Celebrating Women's Equality Day
This day commemorates the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the states and federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the U.S. on the basis of sex.
Meet Aisha Losche!
She is our Principal Director, Chief Diversity Officer and is celebrating her one year mark at Draper!
Aisha was recently recognized by the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce with the Inspire Award which is quite the accomplishment. In honor of Women's Equality Day on August 26th, we asked her a few questions pertaining to IDEA at Draper.
Q: Why is it important to deliberately focus on women’s equality in the workplace here at Draper, a STEM centric workspace that has historically been male dominated?
A: We cannot ignore the systemic and persistent structures that kept women out of the workforce. Even as early as third grade, there's a gendered bias encouraging certain students to commit to STEM. We have been partnering with universities, schools and programs to ensure students can see role models. We are committed to bringing the best and brightest by opening doors and imagination so that they can see themselves in STEM.
Q: What would you say the biggest accomplishments of the IDEA program have been?
A: It’s hard to pick one. We were recently picked as an Employer of Choice by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. We launched a nationwide mentorship program tool, curated learning paths to build culture competencies.
Q: What would you attribute those successes to?
A: Teamwork. It is a Draper core value and it was evident in all the work we did. The HR team, and our Security and Information Technology Services teammates all made the progress we’ve made within IDEA possible.
Q: What is the future of IDEA at Draper?
A: We have a strong multiyear strategy that will be integrated and implemented alongside our business strategies. We will have more resources, events, and processes updated and enhanced by IDEA. We are working with leadership across the organization to have more tangible access to learning to implement within their teams. The responsibility of the success of IDEA is on each and every employee at Draper.