Companies are looking a lot more like Canada

“There can be a huge difference in how companies approach, say, their marketing – using data, making strategic interventions, tracking progress – and their diversity, where they just want things to get better,” says Laura McGee. “We thought diversity should be treated like a business priority.” That’s why the Toronto-based founder launched Diversio, an AI platform that analyzes employee surveys, scores companies on metrics ranging from unbiased feedback to equal access to mentors, networks and sponsors, then identifies very specific tactics and policies to help companies improve. Companies are typically reassessed every six months to see how they’ve done and where they’re coming up short.

That doesn’t just make good ethical sense – it also gives a huge boost to any organization’s bottom line. Management consulting firm McKinsey found that companies with diverse executive teams are 33 percent more likely to lead their industry in profitability. “At Davos this year, we built a diversity calculator that determined the profit impact for a company if they were to add just one woman to the executive team,” McGee says. “It was a bit of a gimmick, but the CEOs loved it.” And they wanted in.