Digital Transformation World Series, London, UK — TM Forum, the industry association driving digital transformation through collaboration, named Keri Gilder, CEO, Colt, as the new chair of its Diversity & Inclusion Council. The Council is a global collaboration project focused on making the telecommunications industry the most diverse and inclusive industry in order to help accelerate transformation of the industry and underpin its continued success in the digital economy.

With strong contributions from leading companies including BT, Accenture, Amdocs, Bain & Company, Colt, Deutsche Telekom, Nokia and Verizon, the Diversity & Inclusion Council provides a safe space for businesses to explore diversity and inclusion issues, understand best practices and obtain practical guidance as a connected community to help optimize performance, drive business transformation and build the workforce for the future.

Diversity and inclusion tools

As part of this mission, the Council is collaboratively developing a suite of tools and knowledge, including a new Diversity & Inclusion Maturity Model, which helps guide businesses on improving their diversity practices and provides best practices and benchmarks.

The Council has also launched a Rising Stars program that recognizes the industry’s next generation of diverse industry leaders, their professional development and the impact and importance of their mentors.

In addition, the Council recently released “Inspiring innovative teams through diversity and inclusion,” a research report that takes a close look at the state of diversity and inclusion in the industry. The report features interviews with executives from the member companies that are leading the diversity and inclusion effort.

“The goal of the Forum’s Diversity & Inclusion Council is to transform the face of the telecoms industry to be a world leader in diversity and inclusion,” said Keri Gilder, CEO, Colt, and Chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Council. “These last few years have been so important for the diversity and inclusion agenda, with a lot of businesses now working hard to ensure their companies mirror the rich societies we live in. Not only because research shows that companies with greater workforce diversity perform better, also we are now seeing the value in creating spaces that allow people to bring their whole selves to work. I look forward to working to equip TM Forum members with the tools they need to accelerate change and improve their own individual diversity and inclusion initiatives.”

“Improving diversity and inclusion in the tech and telecom sector is a difficult challenge but one that is vital to the future of our industry,” said Steffen Roehn, Expert Vice President, Bain & Company and TM Forum’s Chairman of the Board of Directors. “The industry will not be able to move forward at the right pace without a culture of innovation that includes diverse mindsets and inclusive practices. I want to thank the Council’s outgoing chair, RacheI Higham, for her hard work and dedication in getting the program off the ground, and I’m delighted to see Keri take the helm of this crucial initiative.”

“Diversity and inclusion can no longer be seen as simply a ‘nice to have’ or ‘the right thing to do’. They are critical to our industry remaining relevant and having the creativity to thrive in the years ahead,” said Nik Willetts, CEO, TM Forum. “Every day, we see the power of TM Forum members’ diversity unlocking the creativity of professionals from around the world. At the heart of the Council is a call to arms to drive lasting change and to provide a practical blueprint for that change as the industry heads into a digital future.”

**Diversity & Inclusion Council membership ** Interested in getting involved or joining the Diversity & Inclusion program? Learn more at: https://www.tmforum.org/diversity-and-inclusion/.

Diversity and inclusion content

TM Forum’s Digital Transformation World Series features The Human Factor theme, a track of content focused on driving cultural change, diversity and talent development in the telecom industry and beyond.

Held from October 7 to November 12, the full six-week digital conference includes 50+ C-level speakers including: Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd.; Tareq Amin, Chief Technology Officer and Group Executive Vice President, Rakuten Mobile; Shankar Arumugavelu, Senior Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer, Verizon; Sigve Brekke, President and CEO, Telenor; Shaloo Garg, Managing Director, Microsoft for Startups; Keri Gilder, CEO, Colt; Steve McDonald, Chief Operating and Technology Officer, giffgaff; Claudia Nemat, Board Member, Technology and Innovation, Deutsche Telekom; and Stéphane Richard, Chairman and CEO, Orange; Ruza Sabanovic, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Telenor; among others.