Washington Football Team Retains Vestry Laight To Advise On Long-Term Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Planning, Growth And Accountability Initiatives

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va., June 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing commitment to advancing a culture of genuine diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), the Washington Football Team announced today the retention of consulting firm Vestry Laight. The leading consulting firm will conduct a comprehensive review of the team's recently enhanced and updated policies and practices, benchmark the team against DE&I best practice organizations, and provide ongoing counsel that will help the Washington Football Team ensure its DE&I work is meaningful,  enduring and measurable.

Over the past year the team has undergone substantial change in every aspect of the organization, including enhancing HR policies and procedures, appointing an entirely new leadership team that is among the most diverse executive teams in sports and entertainment, and prioritizing culture change at every level. Vestry Laight will serve as an expert, third-party reviewer of the progress to date, and an advisor on how to continue to elevate and further implement DE&I processes across the organization.

"We've made the commitment to become a standard bearer in diversity, equity and inclusion for professional sports franchises, and we are pleased with the rate and speed of culture change thus far," said team owners Dan and Tanya Snyder. "Bringing in a team like Vestry Laight will give us an objective look at the progress we've made and – more importantly – expert advice on how to sustain the rate of progress over the long-term. We want to be sure we are doing all we can to go above and beyond the expectations of diversity, equity and inclusion to become a best practice organization for our employees, players, fans and the entire DMV community."

Vestry Laight brings extensive experience in evaluation of organizational policies, practices and culture with a careful and critical eye towards identifying root causes and implementing transformative changes. Measurement of the team's culture and performance to date will provide important and impartial accountability of the Washington Football Team's commitments.

Brande Stellings, a Principal of Vestry Laight, who will lead the engagement, said "We look forward to working with the Washington Football Team to continue to build a culture of inclusion and respect. Vestry Laight will provide a strategic focus to help the organization achieve its goal of setting the highest standard for equity in sports." 

The engagement will begin immediately, and the Vestry Laight team will be fully integrated with internal personnel and resources dedicated to ongoing, comprehensive DE&I work.

-Washington Football Team Established 1932-

SOURCE Washington Football Team