THE INTERVIEW
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social impact: advancing sustainability, cultivating
inclusion, and transforming lives—all
with the power of technology. Foundational
to the vision is our commitment to upholding
ethics and privacy.
We’re going to continue to commit to areas
like the circular economy and protecting
human rights, including the rights of our own
team members, as well as the many people in
our extended supply chain.
We will up-level our focus on empowering
the future workforce and expanding access to
the tech jobs of the future. That doesn’t just
mean programs for students, but also supporting
the re-entry of those who have temporarily
stepped away and the re-skilling of those
already here. The jobs of the future will require
skills that we have to ensure our existing team
members develop. And it also means building
a culture of inclusion where everyone feels a
sense of belonging.
We are also making a concerted effort to
scale our impact through collaboration with
our customers, partners, and peers across our
industry because we recognize that no one of
us is going to do this on our own.
You described ethics and privacy as
foundational to the 2030 vision. Why
did Dell Technologies specifically outline
ethics and privacy as part of social
impact?
We did a lot of work in developing our goals,
and that included a company-wide survey asking
team members what they feel are important
initiatives for Dell Technologies to commit
to for 2030. We also surveyed many of our
leaders and conducted external analysis. One
thing that surfaced consistently was concern
around ethics and privacy. While ethics and
privacy have always been core to everything
we do at Dell—it’s part of our ethos and
our culture—it’s also becoming increasingly
important as we build emerging technologies
that are intimately connected to our daily
lives. It’s really a concern for the entire tech
industry, and we recognized the need to
specifically call it out as a way of reinforcing
our commitment to operating with the highest
ethical standards.
With so many social and environmental
issues to address, what is your advice to
business leaders about how to choose the
right social impact initiatives?
My advice is to start with your overall business
strategy and your core strengths, then
create a social impact agenda that is adjacent
to those. I’m a “less-is-more” person, so I believe
that when you select impactful initiatives
that are core and adjacent to your business,
it’s easier to mobilize people and resources to
support success. For us at Dell Technologies,
we want to harness our technology and our
team members for the greatest benefit, and
we want to make sure that our team members
reflect the diversity of our society and
feel that they can be their authentic and best
selves at work.
How have you rallied Dell Technologies
team members to take part in social
impact initiatives?
Our success is directly tied to how we engage
and mobilize our 150,000+ team members,
so we focus on fostering an environment
where volunteering and giving back is valued
and encouraged. Great ideas can come from