"Diversity drives innovation – when we limit who can contribute,
we in turn limit what problems we can solve." — Telle Whitney
Draper is here to solve the nation’s toughest problems. We can only do that in an inclusive, diverse space that honors and respects individuals and all their identities. We are committed to build upon our values to ensure inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) are embedded systemically and structurally to have long-lasting change.
Our people—empowered by the diversity of their backgrounds, experiences, training, and ideas—enable Draper to innovate industry-leading solutions to the most challenging problems. Through collaboration, our employees inspire each other to achieve. These achievements are the foundation of Draper’s success.
Draper seeks extraordinarily talented people from all parts of this nation with every type of background and all identities; individuals with a deep commitment to our mission and ability to do the work required. We want to draw into our community that talent wherever it is, and we strive to ensure that our environment is one where that talent can flourish.
Draper employees live our shared values—and employees hold Draper accountable for aligning its actions with the core values. As a People First organization, Draper engages employees at all levels of the organization to enhance our work environment. Members of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (IDEA) Council, including our Chief Diversity Officer, Employee Resource Group (ERG) leaders and IDEA Co-Leads, advise Draper’s leadership team and partner with them on implementing initiatives that create lasting and systemic change to make Draper an inclusive workplace. Our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement can be found here.
As part of our long-term focus, Draper has begun to publish diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility reports that provide an annual snapshot of our population. That knowledge helps us hold ourselves accountable for making progress year over year toward our goal of being a community where anyone can see themselves contribute to our mission and pursue a meaningful career.
Employee Resource Groups and Co-Leads
The mission of Ability+ is to serve as a safe community space for employees with disabilities, employees who may know someone with a disability, and their allies. Ability+ supports programming around education, awareness, advocacy, and inclusion for people with disabilities.
The mission of Asian Pacific Americans@Draper (APA) is to share perspectives, to provide a sense of belonging and to bring forward diversity and inclusivity practices at Draper. It also creates a network that is inclusive and celebratory of the various Asian Pacific American (APA) cultural backgrounds.
BIND promotes a culture of diversity and inclusiveness through continual learning while seeking to enhance and develop the inclusion of employees of the African Diaspora with common backgrounds, interests and goals. It serves as a space to celebrate and educate one another on our unique differences, and a space to appreciate what BINDs us together as a people.
Caregivers provides a centralized group for employees to discover resources, discuss relevant and timely topics, and host discussions with management to effectively balance caregiving responsibilities while thriving at work. It also serves as a space to foster connection among Draper employees and provide them with relevant information.
Early Career creates opportunities for its membership to build community, learn how to navigate Draper, network across the organization, and develop as a professional.
The Latinx ERG aims to create an engaged community by being a welcoming place for Draper’s Latinx employees, taking care of their community by raising awareness of the multiplicity of Latinx cultures at Draper and engaging employees as a conduit for personal growth by:
- Providing support for networking and mentoring within the community
- Informing employees about opportunities for community engagement
- Facilitating a constructive forum for discussions
LGBTQIA+ is a visible peer group whose mission is to provide a welcoming and safe environment for all Draper employees through M.E.A.N.S: Mentoring, Education, Advocacy, Networking and Socializing.
The Draper Veterans group supports, develops and promotes the unique characteristics of military veterans at Draper. The goals of the group are to identify and recognize employees who are military veterans, to enhance the bonds and comradeship for those who have served our community, and to support and mentor veterans who transition directly from the military into the company.
Women@Draper unites, empowers and creates a community to inspire women and gender minorities to achieve their full potential in career, life and leadership at Draper. The group’s main mission is to engage the community through mentorships and networking, which in turn promotes professional development and retention.
IDEA Leaders
Collaboration is incredibly important to the Draper community and we continue to seek out partners that will allow us to be inclusive and uphold our core values. Draper has worked and continues to build relationships with multiple different organizations. Partners include fellowships, start-ups, veteran organizations, professional societies and collegiate level groups. If you are interested in partnering with us, please email [email protected].
