Kayla Washington

Kayla Washington joined Gallagher less than two years ago to bolster its talent acquisitions department’s employer brand and recruitment marketing. However, she quickly moved to embed inclusion and diversity into the work more purposefully through involvement in the company’s I&D Roundtable organization, Global I&D committee and the Toolkit project — the latter of which she spearheaded with her colleague Becky Peña.

“It’s important for me that there’s equitable resources and opportunities for everybody,” Washington explains, adding that learning the difference between equality and equity is pivotal.  “I think that we all go through our own separate, individual experiences throughout life, but at the end of the day, we have so many different connecting points.”

Washington is building a framework for Gallagher’s inclusion and diversity (or I&D, as the company calls its diversity program) hiring initiatives for both in-house and contingent talent. Her big project is an I&D hiring toolkit designed to walk talent acquisition staff through courses, e-learnings and resources to help them be better advocates for I&D in the hiring process. The toolkit also aims to provide the skills needed to have hard, thought-provoking conversations with hiring managers about biases and how to spot them.

We all go through our own separate, individual experiences throughout life, but at the end of the day, we have so many different connecting points.

To accomplish these tasks, the team created its IDEA Committee, which stands for inclusion, diversity, equity and action. It comprises Gallagher talent acquisition staff from across the globe.

Washington has made a point to keep equitable practices at the forefront of her work. She is responsible for the company’s careers website and plans to build it out with diverse storytelling and firsthand accounts from employees about their experience at Gallagher; it will also have more disability accommodations information available for prospective talent who may be interested in a role posted on Gallagher’s site.

Washington sits on the board of the Lead Fund, a “think and do” tank that complements the work of the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity, a national organization of professionals engaged with affirmative action, equal opportunity and diversity programs.

“The impact that you can have on just one individual is really important,” she says. “We’ve seen that trickle-down effect happen in lots of negative ways, but work like this allows it to happen in a more positive light.”