Our Cleveland team joined local pitch competition Accelerate to embrace and encourage social change in their community.
A community-owned laundromat. A youth political action committee. An incubator for kids interested in the music industry. An initiative to support immigrant-owned restaurants. An organization using chess to teach leadership skills.
These are the diverse, innovative programs that will benefit from the Centric’s sponsorship of Accelerate, a local pitch competition. Accelerate is organized by the Cleveland Leadership Center (CLC). Centric Consulting has been a named sponsor of the CLC before, but this year, we’ve increased our sponsorship level to support the Social Change category directly at Accelerate 2024. Held on February 22, Accelerate gives Centric an opportunity to reach deeper into the community.
“We were looking for ways to engage the broader Cleveland business community,” said Matt Dierker, Centric’s Cleveland practice lead, who is serving on Accelerate’s Host Committee organizing the event.
Representatives from each of the five initiatives in the Social Change category will pitch their ideas to Centric VP Joe Smucny and the other category judges before presenting their pitches to the full audience. The winners in each category and an overall winner will receive cash prizes to help launch their ideas. However, the opportunity for the diverse innovators to meet other Cleveland business leaders is even more impactful.
“We wanted to sponsor this event because of our belief in increasing equity, access, and opportunities,” Dierker said. “We look forward to sponsoring more events this year that support the health and diversity of Cleveland’s business ecosystem.”
I sat down with Jodi Merriday, Centric’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) lead, to explore more deeply how events like Accelerate help Centric achieve its DEI initiatives.
Q: Can you share your vision for Centric’s DEI program and the role you play in its development?
My mission at Centric is to embed DEI companywide. I am committed to leading Centric through a DEI journey that matures our growth and accomplishes objectives in a conscious and proactive way. We will do this by creating DEI competencies, capabilities, processes, and standards at every level of Centric — and then put metrics in place that keep us grounded in the North Star of our DEI strategy.
Another part of my work is connecting with our Talent Acquisition and Management team to develop new and diverse talent streams, including adding value to current programs like INROADS, a St. Louis, Missouri-based nonprofit organization that creates career opportunities for diverse college students. We’ve had great experiences with INROADS and have hosted interns and hired talent that was introduced through their organization. Non-profit organizations like INROADS provide pathways to careers for diverse college students and enable us to bridge relationships between promising talent and Centric employees.
Q: How do locally based sponsorship opportunities like Accelerate contribute to creating awareness, understanding, and empathy within the organization?
Whenever I talk to employees who have participated in an event like this or a volunteer project, they always tell me the same thing: The look on people’s faces was the most rewarding part. When we are focused only on our work and the tasks in front of us, we can lose sight of other people and the obstacles that they may be facing. These events are powerful because they keep us in touch with communities, allow us to hear their hopes and dreams, and remind us of the common thread that connects us.
Q: What role do community outreach and opportunity-building programs like Accelerate play in furthering DEI in the communities we serve?
We want to broaden our spheres of influence, elevate the Centric brand to underrepresented groups and underserved communities, and increase our diversity-focused recruiting and internship strategies. Accelerate accomplishes these goals by providing opportunities for diverse groups to grow and succeed in a variety of areas, like social change, arts and culture, education, health and well-being, and thriving neighborhoods — areas that are important to them and their communities. When Centric “shows up” at events like Accelerate, it demonstrates that we care about building strong, healthy environments in the places we serve, and it helps us to connect with talented people in those places.
Q: Centric is sponsoring the Social Change category at Accelerate. Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Can that idea apply to businesses as well as individuals?
Absolutely! After all, businesses are made up of people, and they could not survive without the people who work for them and the people who need their goods and services. When a company like Centric seeks out opportunities like Accelerate, we expand our presence and signal our support and desire to be a part of and contribute to diverse, talented and innovative communities. That encourages other organizations to do the same, and then we can start to see that change “we wish to see in the world.”
Q: At the corporate level, we also participate in INROADS, as you mentioned, and last year, we sponsored Black Tech Week, which gives entrepreneurs opportunities to pitch their ideas to potential investors and partners. How can we keep this momentum going, both locally and companywide?
We are off to a great start, that’s for sure! For example, we also have Centric Together, which is our DEI engagement model. It creates space within Centric for awareness, understanding and empathy through the exploration of DEI concepts at work and in life. We are activating new and expanding existing DEI competencies, capabilities, processes, and standards.
By measuring our progress toward that goal, we demonstrate that we are not simply “checking a box” when we participate in outreach events or work with nonprofits. That way, we can show each other — and the world — that DEI at Centric is an ongoing commitment to business, communities and the people who sustain both of them.
“Centric Consulting is a proud member of the Cleveland Leadership Center, and we’re honored to support such a worthwhile program as Accelerate with our time, our expertise, and our funding,” Dierker concluded.
Want more stories about our people and culture?