“The reason I went into HR in the first place was so I can pour into others,” says Director of Diversity and Social Impact Victoria Hill. “It’s always been my passion from day one.” In 2018, three years after first joining Advanced Group in the HR department, Hill got an opportunity to expand that passion when she started a DE&I committee within the company; although she had never led DE&I efforts before, she was excited at the chance to make an impact within Advanced Group.

She created a committee of people who expressed an interest in learning more about DE&I, and each month she posted internally on the workplace Facebook page things that highlighted and celebrated aspects of different cultures — such as a video she helped create in February 2018, which featured people within Advanced Group speaking about what Black History Month meant to them. And this small start took off; the group now has six different subcommittees and employee resource groups, including a group for people of color and another for the LGBTQ+ community. Hill notes that the awareness these groups create is integral in creating a culture of inclusion.

"The world is opening up to hearing these messages. It brings hope; it means more and more of the world is becoming inclusive!"

Hill has also created a training program for internal staff that focuses on a three-step process, moving from unconscious bias, to conscious bias, to conscious inclusion. “It’s a positive spin on unconscious bias,” she says. “I’m proud that every new hire coming into our organization takes this conscious inclusion training as part of their new hire journey within their first 90 days. That’s a huge win for us!” Hill has also created and facilitates DE&I training programs on interview bias, microaggressions in the workplace and mental well-being, and she is currently researching and creating a training program on the value of neurodiversity.

Not content with just internal change, Hill is proud to be effecting change outside Advanced Group too. She has several speaking engagements lined up this year, including two days at the Illinois Search and Staffing Association Midwest Staffing Conference. “The world is opening up to hearing these messages. It brings hope; it means more and more of the world is becoming inclusive!”

2022 DE&I Influencers List