Be courageous

When I became the COO at Booking.com somebody came up to me and said it is so nice that we have you at the top but we do not see any role models in between. This is when I started realizing this needs a lot of work, needs ownership at the top and change in  every level of the business. It was important to me to be that role model; to demonstrate that it is possible to do something you never thought would be in reach and to take steps into the unknown.

Let’s start combining commitment with what tech companies do best: follow the data. We believe we can uncover the blindspots together, step by step. But we have to dig deeper, learn from each other, find patterns and be courageous. It’s time to make changes that actually work. To step up our game and enter the next level. Let’s get our bits together and become diversity heroes.

Gillian Tans Founder Diversity Hero, ex chairwoman and CEO Booking.com
Gillian Tans | Founder Diversity Hero
About Dutch D&I in Digital
Benchmark 2023

21%[1] of women in tech, 70% of all organizations do not track ethnicity of employees, only 36% of leaders (sometimes) have D&I objectives in their performance measures. Among others, these are some of the data that we gathered with the first edition of the D&I benchmark 2022, thanks to a selection of companies participating and representing almost 30.000 employees working in the Dutch Digital and Tech landscapes. For this year, we aim higher: more companies participating, better representativeness of the industry. So herewith we invite you to the second edition of the Dutch D&I in Digital benchmark 2023.

Inspired by the Tech talent Charter UK, an initiative launched in 2015 to address the UK’s tech talent shortage and lack of diversity through collective action, the Dutch D&I in Digital Benchmark 2023 is a joint and collaborative initiative, launched by Diversity Hero in collaboration with Techleap, Taskforce D&I by NL Digital, executed by Blue Field Agency and supported by Booking.com and Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate.

Diversity Hero

Is founded by Gillian Tans, who is the ex-CEO and former chairwoman of Booking.com. Her company works on accelerating diversity & inclusion in technology, through data. Diversity Hero brings together the ecosystem by gathering data and comparing, sharing and learning from peers in the tech industry.


Techleap.nl

Is a non-profit publicly funded organisation helping to quantify and accelerate the tech ecosystem of the Netherlands. Empowering all founders and their tech companies to scale with programs and initiatives for improving access to capital, international markets and talent.

Taskforce Diversity & Inclusion

Led by NLdigital, is a public-private initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate to promote (gender) equality in the Dutch digital industry.

Blue Field Agency

Is executive partner of the Dutch D&I in digital benchmark. They provide the secure online benchmark platform CViews. Their ISO 27001 & 20252 certified research department only has access to process the raw data for general anonymised and aggregated reporting purposes.

[1] Note: slightly higher percentage than the average, due to the participation of companies sensitive to D&I.

Diversity Hero
and supporting partners
Lotte de Bruijn | directeur NLdigital
Gillian Tans, Founder
Diversity Hero

I never realized that being a woman and building a career was different, only when I started leading many people did I realize how much effort it takes to build a more inclusive culture.

Terence Guiamo | Global Director D&I Takeaway.com
Ingrid Tappin, Director Inclusive Leadership & Culture
Techleap.nl

Techleap’s vision and mission is to create a well-connected, inclusive and self-empowered Dutch tech ecosystem. As a member of the Leadership Team, Ingrid is responsible for translating Techleap's vision and strategy into great team performance by creating clarity around execution and developing the required mindsets, team dynamics and behaviors. In her role as DEIB Lead she helps the Techleap community of Dutch Tech founders develop diverse and inclusive company cultures that attract and retain top-talent, create impact and scale at speed.

Bas van der Veldt | CEO AFAS Software
Yeni Joseph, Taskforce Lead
Taskforce Diversity & Inclusion by NLdigital

Yeni leads the National Taskforce for Diversity & Inclusion, which is a collaboration between the Dutch government and the digital industry and has concrete objectives and actions that contribute to more diversity and inclusion in the Dutch digital industry. Such as a national D&I in Digital benchmark, a platform with curated content and facilitating D&I-related workgroups.

The Taskforce Diversity & Inclusion is an initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and NLdigital, the trade association for the digital industry in The Netherlands.

Bas van der Veldt | CEO AFAS Software
Jenny Cook, Global Inclusion Manager
Booking.com

Jenny is responsible for thought leadership in the development, implementation and monitoring of Inclusion, Diversity, & Belonging (IDB) strategy & programs at Booking.com. She leads and drive cross business strategy, communications, interventions, and initiatives that create and foster an open and inclusive environment for the organisation in a global environment.