Quest Oracle Community and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Quest community has a history of being a diverse and inclusive organization, as we believe our community is stronger and more valuable to its members because of its diverse make-up. Quest is continuing its DEI journey with a focus on formalizing many of our practices in search of continuous improvement (an organizational core value), and to ensure our beliefs are reinforced and operationalized in organizational behavior that endures. Before I get into some of the details of Quest’s DEI plans, please allow me to provide a little background.

Background
Last year, Tony Schollum, Quest’s Board Chair, established a DEI Taskforce, led by Michael Carney. The Taskforce was charged with developing a DEI statement for the Quest board of directors to adopt, which was completed at the June board meeting and added to the Quest website. Additionally, the Taskforce determined after thoughtful evaluation that a strong directive was needed to establish a clear set of objectives designed to meet our DEI goals. We have identified the best programs and activities that align with these objectives, as well as our capacity to deliver.

We made the decision to focus on our workplace, the services that Quest delivers to its members, and the impact that we have on the communities in which we conduct business. We have diligently worked to clarify our 2023 program plan that we will execute this year and to maintain an evergreen process for the continued focus on DEI initiatives going forward. We recognize achieving our DEI goals will be an effort and we remain committed to staying flexible as objectives may evolve. Therefore, the DEI Taskforce has transitioned to become a standing committee, in which I have the privilege of serving as chair for 2023. I am joined in this effort by my wonderful fellow committee members:

• Rod McDonald, Vice President, Enterprise Applications at Hillwood, a Perot Company
• France Chao, Global Vice President of Enterprise Business Systems, Providence St. Joseph Health
• Mark Thomas, UK IT Director at Hays Recruitment Specialists
• Madhuri Jha, Director of IT, Honeywell

2023 Areas of Focus
As mentioned above, Quest will have three key areas of focus for 2023.

Workplace
Quest will evaluate and continue refining our workplace practices through a DEI lens. For many companies, this is focused on HR practices. However, due to Quest’s unique structure, this will also include our volunteer practices and the expectations that we have for our third-party service providers.

Services
Quest is in a unique position to help the members of the Oracle ecosystem gain knowledge, build relationships, and advance best practices within their organizations. As a result, we can offer education and create spaces for conversations and the exchange of ideas throughout our programming. We will look to expand on existing programs, such as our Women in Technology (WIT) group, and to include other traditionally underrepresented groups of people. Our members will be at different points in their journey – some are just starting while others may be more advanced in their DEI efforts – and we want to shed light on those examples, as well.

Impact on Communities
Quest will continue its “Quest for Good” programming with members located around the world, and by hosting events in various locations throughout the year, to strive to have a positive impact on DEI initiatives within the communities we serve. This year we will host conferences in Dallas and Denver where we will support a local charitable organization, that is aligned with our DEI initiatives, as well as look to enhance our DEI -related programming at our local events. This will create service opportunities for both our staff and attendees to positively impact their local community.

In addition to these three areas of focus, the committee and I will begin identifying long-term plans to advance Quest’s DEI journey well into the future. This is merely the beginning! I look forward to sharing regular updates with you throughout the year.

If you or a member of your team would like to contribute to Quest’s DEI efforts (sharing your story, facilitating a networking session, etc.), please contact Michelle Hooks, at Michelle.Hooks@QuestOracleCommunity.org.

Thank you for your support.

Jesse