INFORMS has a DEI Ambassador program, and I, along with two of my coworkers, was selected in the 2022 cohort. We wanted to ask ourselves the question, “How Diverse is INFORMS, Really?” which was a year long project to collect member demographics. At that time, we were publishing our member magazine six times per year, so in each issue we updated our members about how the collection was going. The culmination of the project was an interactive display at INFORMS Annual Meeting, where a user could enter in their demographics and it would appear on a large screen with other attendee’s profiles.
The INFORMS member demographic campaign was a year-long effort to encourage all members to add or update their demographics through a questionnaire that linked to their member profile. Our DEI Ambassador project built on this existing project by adding a visual component. We wanted to create something eye catching and visually beautiful with the collected data. Our project included bimonthly articles in OR/MS Today, starting with a spread in February that showed a honeycomb design in which each hexagon represented one person, with the six segments representing different demographics that we wanted to showcase. In that first issue, the hexagons were blank outlines. For each of the next five issues in 2022, as members answered or updated the demographic questions, we would represent those answers with different colors, shapes, and textures so that over time, the graphic filled in and was complete by the end of the year.
Here is a pdf of all six articles combined.
The hexagons represented real, anonymous INFORMS members who were randomly chosen and highlighted the diversity in our organization. It was not meant to communicate the actual demographic statistics of our membership, but instead to be visually engaging and inspire more members to contribute their demographics to the project and be part of the whole picture.
The ambassador funding went toward an interactive display at the 2022 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, where attendees could also add or update their demographic information in person and see their personalized hexagon come to life on a huge screen.
Objectives
The objectives of our DEI Ambassador project are linked to the objectives of the INFORMS-wide project to collect demographic information, so we share the combined objectives and results below. Our main objectives for this project were to get as many members as possible to update their demographic data; showcase the diversity that exists within INFORMS; keep diversity, equity, and inclusion top of mind for members, through regular magazine articles and an eye-catching display at the Annual Meeting; and have a more complete and accurate set of demographic data by the end of the year. We wanted INFORMS to be better prepared to move forward with future diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts beyond 2022.
2022 Demographic Results
As of December 19, 70.4% of INFORMS members have affirmed or updated their demographic profiles. This exceeded our set goal of 50% of our total membership updating or adding their data.
Lessons Learned
- We tested INFORMS branding against the demographic campaign branding (honeycomb design) and found that INFORMS branding resulted in more responses.
- Influences on personal experience go far beyond what can be captured in a questionnaire. We had many good conversations about other measures of diversity.
- Privacy concerns must be openly addressed to ensure members are comfortable completing the questionnaire.We added links to our Privacy Policy, opt-ins for both storing demographic data and using it for any purpose, and we made sure to point out the option to select ‘Prefer not to answer’ for multiple choice questions.
- Inclusion means everyone. We received thoughtfully written feedback on our data collection process from some members. Respectful debate will always be welcome at INFORMS.
- Expectations in the DEI space constantly change, and we must be vigilant to stay on top of best practices.