A Conversation with Alex Kennedy, Global Head and Director of Partnership Strategy and Operations at Twitter
Alex Kennedy is the Global Head and Director of Partnership Strategy and Operations at Twitter. She is responsible for developing the Global Content Partnership strategy that delivers sustainable growth and enhancement of the user experience on the platform.
Prior to Twitter, Alex worked at Under Armour with a focus on Corporate and Digital Strategy in Baltimore, Maryland. Alex served in numerous leadership roles at Under Armour to shape how the brand approached their digital strategy, which included the acquisition and integration of three tech companies – MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal, and Endomondo.
Alex is a native of Washington, D.C, but currently resides in San Francisco, CA. She holds a BA in Anthropology from Princeton University. Follow her on Twitter @AlexKennedy44.
Kimberley Tran (BT): As a former Corporate Contacts Manager and Director of Seminars at Business Today, you had the opportunity to interact with executives in various positions of leadership, in an array of industries. How did these experiences influence your early perceptions of what “diversity in business” looked like?
Alexandra Kennedy (AK):. I grew up in Washington D.C., also known as Chocolate City. That experience allowed for me to be around a lot of white collar professionals, mainly lawyers and doctors, that looked like me. I was able to see, at a very early age, levels of success for black people that far too few people who look like me get to see. I was incredibly fortunate and had great role models around me who gave me a vision of something to aspire to.
[Through Business Today], I was introduced to the capital of business—New York City. My role required me to visit nearly 150 Fortune 500 offices based in NYC. In those spaces, I saw a lot of people who didn’t look like me in leadership positions—which was somewhat of a culture shock. The majority were older, white men. That showed me that big business was, and frankly still is, lacking inclusion and representation at all levels, but especially at the top. With that comes missed opportunities to connect with people which ultimately leads to a business that isn’t functioning at the highest level it could be. I saw this as an opportunity to be an agent of change and more importantly, to bring people from groups that may have been excluded before along with me.
“I saw this as an opportunity to be an agent of change and more importantly, to bring people from groups that may have been excluded before along with me.”
BT: I saw that you were with Under Armour for 9 years. During your time there, among various roles, you worked as a Consumer Insight Specialist. In your experience, how have consumer behavior around diversity in marketing and branding changed? How did you convey those insights to the leadership team and organization?
AK: I was an Anthropology major in college. At its core, Anthropology is the study of culture and its development and evolution. It was a perfect introduction to market research because it helped me understand the importance of uncovering the intrinsic motivations of the consumer. The best companies endlessly study their consumer and evolve appropriately to meet the ever-changing needs of their customers.
Mass targeting and focus on generic consumer groups, based on obvious demographic information (age, race, geography, gender) was a consistent mistake seen in the past. Today’s marketers are more sophisticated, [and] the best brands are laser-focused on a specific consumer segment that are disproportionately valuable to the company over time. As a result, messaging and marketing efforts are more personalized and tailored. That change is, in part, due to having more diverse people in those fields highlighting why generic consumer segments are flawed and obsolete. However, these changes across all businesses are also because of our access and understanding of something we haven’t always had access to: data- and the ability to harness it for good.
[To answer your second question]: Leaders are people. Leaders don’t respond well to a static data point, you have to contextualize it and make it real for them. To communicate the insight in a manner that will spark action one needs to take extra time to help their executive audience visualize it. There is no one-size-fits all visualization that is effective—it depends on the information being communicated. Specific to communicating about a consumer segment, we focused on sharing a data driven narrative about the psychographic to the consumer segment. We would give the segment a persona that is easy to remember.
BT: As someone with experience in both the consumer and retail industry through Under Armour and communication and tech through Twitter, during your time there, were there any formal “Diversity and Inclusion” training or similar programs? Did they sufficiently live up to their intent--did these initiatives produce actual, meaningful changes in the workplace?
“Everyone has a bias. It’s important we acknowledge it, because it’s nearly impossible to address something you are not aware of.”
AK: We are seeing a prevalence of these types of training in these last five years than before - I participated in D&I training at both companies. Everyone has a bias. It's important we acknowledge it, because it's nearly impossible to address something you are not aware of. Unconscious bias training allows you to understand your baseline, so that you can have a heightened sense of self-awareness and hopefully be proactive and intentional about how your perceptions may be negatively impacting others and subsequently address your behaviors to make your life at work and beyond more inclusive and productive.
The application of that training is where we need to hold ourselves more accountable. Training for training’s sake is not important. Training for results is what we need. Are we seeing a more diverse talent pool? Are we seeing retention of diverse employees? Are there more diverse senior leaders? Are people being paid equitably? The answers to those questions tell you if the trainings are working. At Twitter, we have metrics that show us that we are making progress, but there is still a long way to go. The work is not done yet, and we need to continue to raise our expectations and set more aggressive goals because we’re not just setting the tone for today’s workplace and today’s worker, we are focused on what things will look like 10, 20, 30 years down the road and beyond.
BT: The diversity mission statement of Twitter is to push for a “more globally inclusive culture and more globally diverse workforce.” Since you first started at Twitter, what has the company’s model for inclusion been? What small or large changes has the company been implementing in order to follow this?
“If you look at the people who use Twitter, they are incredibly diverse—they represent the world. We want to make sure that those using our service actually are represented in the people building it and working in the company every day.”
AK: The tech industry, specifically in San Francisco/Silicon Valley, is notorious for its lack of diversity. This is not just a tech problem, but it is one that is acutely felt by this industry. Twitter is trying to break the mold. We want the company to reflect the people who use our service. If you look at the people who use Twitter, they are incredibly diverse—they represent the world. We want to make sure that those using our service actually are represented in the people building it and working in the company every day. Our current focus is increased diversity for women, Black and Latinx representation, representation at the most senior levels and diversity in technical/engineering roles. We spent the last 2 years focused on those groups and made progress. And then, in 2020, we used the start of the decade to share a new vision (50% women globally and 25% underrepresented minorities in the US by 2025).
Twitter has also increased its presence at the premier diversity conferences, introduced always-on unconscious bias e-learning modules, and invested in its Business Resource Groups (known as BRGs) in an effort to help build community. Twitter is also being more intentional about recruiting a diverse candidate pool for all open roles.
“The brightest minds will have a number of options for where you choose to add value. Knowing a company will value you and your health, your wellness, and the wellness of your family will make it a more attractive place for you to be.”
BT: In response to COVID-19, Twitter ordered all of its employees to work from home, but will also assist with fees associated with setting up offices and Internet access at home. As of March 12, Twitter is the first Big Tech company to have issued such a mandate. As an employee of Twitter, how does this reflect the company’s priorities and values relative to similar companies? In general, how do such factors affect a company’s success in attracting and maintaining talent?
AK: How a company responds to this global pandemic tells you a lot about their preparedness and more importantly, their values. I encourage all BT readers and college students entering into the workforce to take a hard look at how companies are responding. I give Twitter so much credit. Twitter was proactive and took steps to ensure our safety first. How Twitter is responding demonstrates that they put people first and that they were in a position to be agile and prepared, even when the times have been uncertain. There’s a rally cry at Twitter, called #LoveWhereYouWork. If you go on Twitter and you search that hashtag, then you’ll see lots of tweets about why people like working at Twitter. It’s because we feel invested in [by Twitter] and we know they care about us and our wellbeing.
Twitter leadership, starting with Jack Dorsey, the founder and CEO, made it clear to all of us at the company that the health and safety of our workforce is his priority and the company’s priority. The brightest minds will have a number of options for where you choose to add value. Knowing a company will value you and your health, your wellness, and the wellness of your family will make it a more attractive place for you to be. I am very thankful to work for Twitter, and I have been impressed with how holistically they have handled this process.
BT: Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many forms of education have been forced to go online. However, this move presents a major obstacle for students who lack adequate access to the Internet or digital devices, which has renewed discussion on the larger issue of inequity in access to technology. Looking ahead, for society as a whole, what types of changes need to be implemented in order to improve accessibility for lower-income and minority groups?
AK: In today’s world, having access to the internet and technology is a necessity, not a luxury and the first thing we need to do is flip the way we think about technology. The same way that society thinks of clean water or electricity as a basic human right in our society, so is our access to Wifi. We need to create a culture where we’re raising digitally literate individuals because it’s necessary for survival and success in the future.
Beyond creating a culture, we have to ensure the next generation is set up for success. Right now, too many students around the world don’t have access to the technology that will prepare them for the future. We have to come up with solutions that give teachers and students the access to the tools and resources they need to be successful- kids not having access to tech in the classroom today is the equivalent to kids not having access to textbooks when I was in school. It fundamentally puts them at a disadvantage and holds them back from being competitive. If they are sitting on the sidelines of the digital world we are holding students back. So, we absolutely have to equip them with what they need to hone these skills and that means investing in them at a very early age.
[Regarding online learning], there are a lot of bad assumptions being made that one can just learn from home. First, these statements assume that all students have a home. Second, that every student has access to the Internet in that home. Three, that every student has full access to a device (i.e. not sharing with other family members) that s/he can use during the time that classes are happening. Although these assumptions are likely correct for most affluent families, it's not the case for the majority of families in America. Even during a few of my virtual meetings, a colleague will say “Sorry that it’s buffering, I’m on my cell phone wifi, because my kids have to do their classes and there’s not enough bandwidth for all of us.” These are obstacles for families that live and work in Tech, and so, it would be shortsighted to assume that anyone can just flip a switch to learning at home in an effective way. It’s important to not disenfranchise students by making bad baseline assumptions.
BT: In a panel you had at Princeton University about race and technology, you discussed various examples of technology being inherently discriminatory towards minorities, such as video calls not being calibrated to pick up darker skin tones. Why do such issues tend to go unaddressed, and how can companies and product developers work to recognize and mitigate these consequences?
“If you don’t have diversity within multiple layers of these institutions, the innovation will naturally serve those that fall in the middle of the bell curve, and the needs of those on the fringes will be disregarded; it’s an economic principle and one that does not serve inclusion in the industry.”
AK: These issues go unaddressed because the people creating the innovations don’t represent the constituencies that their innovations are expected to serve. For a number of reasons, the “tech/innovator/creator” set is very homogeneous. There are no checks and balances even at the leadership levels to push for a solution that works for everyone. If you don’t have diversity within multiple layers of these institutions, the innovation will naturally serve those that fall in the middle of the bell curve, and the needs of those on the fringes will be disregarded; it’s an economic principle and one that does not serve inclusion in the industry. If there was more diversity within the creator population to re-examine what the definition of “acceptable”/ “Minimum Viable Product (MVP),” the likelihood these issues would get recognized and addressed increases.
BT: There are still many challenges to overcome when it comes to promoting diversity in the workplace. What are some big takeaways that our undergraduate readers, some of whom will go on to work in the tech industry and hold leadership roles there, should keep in mind for their future careers?
AK: People need to appreciate that diversity is a competitive advantage. Diversity of thought, perception, race--diversity matters, because it’s good for business. When it comes to promoting diversity, we need more companies to be intentional about supporting their workforce as they both enter and ascend the ranks. Not everyone is designed to be a senior leader. It takes a specific person with a certain skill set to lead at those types of levels. However, I know that women and [people from the] Black, Latinx, LGBTQ, and other marginalized communities can reshape what leadership looks like. People need to appreciate that leadership comes in a number of ways, and we need to be open to other ways in which people are adding value to our organizations.
“It’s important to celebrate those differences, instead of feeling alienated by them. It’s important to be intentional and create a space where people with different perceptions can evaluate a similar problem or even identify it to begin with.”
It’s important to celebrate those differences, instead of feeling alienated by them. It’s important to be intentional and create a space where people with different perceptions can evaluate a similar problem or even identify it to begin with. Inherently, you’re going to get a different result or a different course of action, because everybody’s going to get it with a slightly different prism because of their past experience; and that’s okay, in fact, it makes us stronger.
One of the things that Business Today taught me was that there are so many different skill sets required to make a company grow. You need expertise in each of those different aspects of your business. That’s why having an abundance of like-minded people in the workforce and in the boardroom doesn’t give you the richness that you need. It doesn’t give enough perspective. Key to all of this is: how do we bring people together to have a productive conversation and not one that is contentious? There’s a way to disagree productively, so it drives more conversation and gets to more alignment, or at least, understanding. That’s one of the key parts of why some diversity efforts fail, because if you have everyone together and they can’t understand and talk to each other in a productive way, it’s no longer effective.