Teresa Truong

Growing up in Indiana, Teresa Truong belonged to a rural community where less than 5% of the entire county self-identified as being diverse. This experience, along with being the first woman in her family to go to college and work in a corporate environment, helped lay the groundwork for her passion for inclusion and belonging and advancing DE&I in the workplace.

She is particularly proud of the Marketplace Diversity Ambassador Program, which focuses on educating and upskilling salespeople how to connect with customers around DE&I. “This gave me the opportunity to educate and scale my subject matter expertise to our external facing salesforce,” Truong explains. It started with a cohort of 16 people in 2018; today, more than 90 people have earned certification through the program.

Over her 11 years with TEKsystems, Truong has had her share of challenging conversations. Her approach? To meet people without judgment. “I’m a firm believer that people only know what they know. If someone is skeptical about DE&I, I always ask them why,” she says. “Then I share facts and data. Even if it seems like we may be at opposite ends of the spectrum, if we keep digging, there is always an opportunity for connection.”

We need to create opportunities for people who are not historically coming from a computer science background but have the technical capabilities.

Truong has also seen the evolution of DE&I. Before the 2020 murder of George Floyd, she says, customers were curious about workforce diversity, but since then, “there’s been a very strong spotlight for organizations to actually build their DE&I programs and ask how they can advance them from an emphasis on ‘fun, food and festivities’ to real impact.”

Truong knows firsthand the impact diversity initiatives can have in the business world: In 2023, she and her team opened up multiple revenue streams by leveraging their Marketplace Diversity Solutions capabilities. Still, much work remains to be done. Truong says, “Whether it’s people who don’t have four-year degrees, those returning to the workforce or perhaps a US veteran looking to get into civilian work, we need to create opportunities for people who are not historically coming from a computer science background but have the technical capabilities.”

Outside of work, Truong drives change by volunteering for speaking engagements throughout the US and working with Per Scholas Greater Boston, helping members of the talent community take their next step in skills-based training.