NielsenIQ launches a new Diversity & Inclusion program: The Home Truth Series
During the month of February, NielsenIQ organized various awareness, education, and engagement initiatives to celebrate Black History Month. As we continue to fuel Diversity & Inclusion programs, NielsenIQ has launched the ‘Home Truth Series’ – a signature program to grow our inclusion dialogue.
The core goal of this new program is to celebrate firsthand stories from NielsenIQ employees to help others learn how their experiences have shaped their lives. By sharing the collective wisdom gained by these personal experiences, and highlighting the resolve to overcome life hurdles and biases along the way, the Home Truth Series opens a dialogue about allyship within our organization.
In this first installment of the Home Truth Series, we featured the personal stories of members of NielsenIQ’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) who are spread across the globe, known as SABLE (Sustaining Active Black Leadership and Empowerment). The included stories recount a range of personal experiences that tie back to themes of racial bias, professional development and pledging allyship.
Beverly Nicholas, a Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Director at NielsenIQ, shared her experience of growing up in South Africa during the Apartheid regime in the early 1990s when racial segregation was a common practice. She recounts her path to pursuing higher education, and her ability to break through societal barriers along the journey to accomplishing that.
“There are times when you need to speak up to prove to yourself that you can do the unexpected, the unimaginable,” said Nicholas. “I took the chance to share about myself with strangers in my university days who ended up becoming my closest friends. Such small moments of courage and human connection lead to bigger moments and uplifting opportunities that can change our lives.”
She describes the impact that inclusivity and social acceptance made against the conservative mindset that was rooted into the society at the time. Her story exemplifies the power of human connection, showing that shared experiences can inspire action and meaningful dialogue within the community that is rising above a historical backlog of discrimination and bias.
Alicia Roebuck, North America Recruitment Leader at NielsenIQ, narrated her personal journey during a study abroad trip to China. Her experiences as an African American faced with language and ethnicity barriers in a foreign land provided a valuable learning experience. In hindsight, it was during this trip that she learned intricacies of FMCG consumers from various backgrounds, which proved valuable in her work with NielsenIQ. Roebuck’s story is that of finding the courage to stay on course with your own unique identity, while valuing the perspectives of others, concluding, “If we can dream it, we can achieve it. Dream big.”
Peter Shapiro, Vice President, Client Lead at NielsenIQ in North America, discussed the need for meaningful allyship having witnessed discrimination and the hardships faced by the BIPOC community. He was so moved with prevailing gaps in social equality that it led him to write his own personal pledge for social justice.
“I vowed to be part of the solution. I set upon a journey to be a real ally, not in name only. I committed to what I called my ‘social justice pledge.’ I undertook a variety of activities that not only would contribute to social justice, but would evolve my identity. I wanted to reject my ability to compartmentalize,” says Shapiro.
These are some of the most profound stories in the first edition of the Home Truth Series. We hope they will inspire associates to share their personal stories and unique voice with the larger community as we continue.
“NielsenIQ’s Diversity & Inclusion team is committed to engage in this ongoing series to gain better understanding of our colleagues and their perspective of the world – ‘their truth’ – so that employees can feel empowered to be themselves at work and we can value each other’s rich experiences and uniqueness,” says Myriam Vidalon, Global Head of Diversity, Talent & Culture, NielsenIQ.
SABLE is one of the company’s first ERGs established to bring together Black employees from across the globe and participate in internal career development opportunities, build a strong sense of community, create an open forum for idea exchange and education, and work together to positively impact Black communities across the globe.
Visit our signature programs page for more information on our four global Diversity & Inclusion programs designed to create an inclusive culture and drive real business impact.
The views, opinions and experiences expressed in this panel are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the official policy and position of NielsenIQ.
