New Brunswick startup helping to make companies more diverse

In the era of the #MeToo and Times Up movement, New Brunswick’s Mesh Diversity is helping businesses create an inclusive and diverse culture in their workforce.

According to the 2016 census, only 3.4 per cent of the population of New Brunswick are visible minorities.

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The concept for the company was inspired by the co-founders professional experiences

“18 years of racism in a country that would welcome you but not necessarily include you” says said Dr. Leeno Karumanchery, Chief Diversity Officer of Mesh Diversity.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "18 years of racism in a country that would welcome you but not necessarily include you" says said Dr. Leeno Karumanchery, Chief Diversity Officer of Mesh Diversity.

Karumanchery says sexism, homophobia and racism are alive and real and he wants to help companies understand how to deal with it productively.

Their software platform provides actionable, real-time metrics that drive healthier more productive business principles, while putting safety, belonging and inclusion at the forefront.

“Organizations who are interested in diversity, interested in inclusion can actually do that while getting the main business done too,” said Karumanchery

Intelisys Aviation Systems hired Mesh Diversity a year ago to help with their IT offices in India and Vietnam, but they also use the service here too.

“I think our industry has a diversity problem, our geography has a diversity problem we live in an area of the world that is very white, Christian, male, so that is reflected in our company being based here,” says Wayne Chamberlain, president of InteliSys Aviation Systems.

“When we’re recruiting locally we want to make sure none of our implicit biases are coming into that process.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "When we're recruiting locally we want to make sure none of our implicit biases are coming into that process."

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Chamberlain says his last dozen new hires have shown the impact mesh diversity has. The training and management solutions Mesh Diversity implements can be tracked online by clients.

“The candidates that are joining our team now are just an amazing fit for us culturally and it has kind of hit the ground running and feels like they have been here since forever so that alone has been worth the investment for us,” said Chamberlain

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The candidates that are joining our team now are just an amazing fit for us culturally and it has kind of hit the ground running and feels like they have been here since forever so that alone has been worth the investment for us," said Chamberlain

For Mesh Diversity, business is booming and they are expanding to the USA and Europe.

To support their new growth they are now hiring content marketers and software developers.