VIDA Fitness: Corporate DEI That You Can Touch and Feel

(Editor's Note: This story is part of Club Industry's series on diversity, equity and inclusion. To see more articles in this series, go here.) 

In September 2020, a small group of relative strangers came together to form VIDA Fitness’ first Diversity & Inclusion Board. Their common bond was love for the Washington, DC-based company and a passion to see it do better on the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) front. As the first of its kind, the board had no blueprint, no defined scope — just a world of change to make and endless routes to get to that change.

All we knew is that we wanted to create a company DEI culture that was so palpable that employees, members and outsiders could touch and feel it. So, we created a mission statement with powerful words such as "commitment to diversity, respect, equity and inclusion for all," "fighting inequity and inequality" and "ensure that every person in VIDA’s orbit is treated equally." That mission led us to define a scope of work, which is detailed in our board's bylaws. That scope includes:

1. Playing a key and supportive role in diversifying the company's senior leadership team and ensuring that hiring processes for all managerial positions is open, diverse, equitable and inclusive.
2. Proactively and reactively support the company (and its workforce) in handling matters involving perceived or real bias, discrimination, inequity and exclusion.  
3. Work with the company's marketing department to ensure that cultural observations are illuminated and diversity is reflected in all visual marketing campaigns.
4. Host town hall events to promote direct, open, honest and informative discussion about diversity, equity and inclusion between members of the VIDA community.
5. Work with the company’s home office to develop measurable ways to engage underserved members of our local community in order to provide them with access to fitness, wellness and/or educational resources. 

Given this scope, the VIDA Diversity & Inclusion Board was able to deliver on the following initiatives in 2021:

1. The revision of VIDA's Company Culture program, which included a specific commitment to intentional diversity, equity and inclusion in the company's operations.
2. The creation of a hiring processes document that sets the protocols and standards for diverse, equitable and inclusive hiring practices in our company.
3. The direct involvement of board members in all managerial hiring processes from the recruitment phase to the screening phase. 
4. The board's direct involvement in resolving DEI-based human resources matters. We've created an external contact form whereby affected parties can relay feedback or complaints to the board in a discrete and open manner. We also participate in HR investigations where we offer a DEI perspective on issues at hand. Our involvement in these matters typically ends with a formal recommendation or proposal that encourages the company to take action(s) consistent with its DEI mission.
5. The creation of a cultural awareness calendar and a task list to ensure that all cultural celebrations are supported equally. The list includes but is not limited to announcements at our company-wide meetings, visual displays on our televisions, postings on the company's social media pages, in-house decorations at each location, display tables and posters at each location that draw attention to the celebration. 
6. The execution of at least two annual town hall meetings, attended by company leadership, team members (staff), members (clients) and neighbors.
7. The successful launch of the VIDA Personal Training & Mentorship Program, which gave 20 aspiring trainers of color the opportunity to obtain their personal training license at no expense to them. This initiative has had the immediate impact of adding diversity to our personal training department, and it's been a measurable way to uplift members of several underserved communities in our industry. Scholars were not only given an opportunity to succeed but the resources to do so as well. Those resources included study materials, study groups, personal trainer mentors, study space, opportunities to shadow trainers and constant encouragement. To date, four of our scholars have successfully obtained their certified personal training license, and six more are expected to pass in the coming month. (See picture below of VIDA senior leadership, the VIDA Diversity & Inclusion Board and VIDA personal training scholars and mentors at a reception.)

As you can see, VIDA and its Diversity & Inclusion Board had an active 2021, one that we are proud of. But the work has just begun. We look forward to taking our work and activism to the next level in 2022, and we welcome all of you to become our partners in this plight. Can we count on you?