It’s a Chimed Life: Meet Erica Johnson, our Head of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging

As a people professional, Erica Johnson has always worked on issues she cares about, but felt like the work closest to her heart — work surrounding Diversity, Equity, and Belonging (DEB) — wasn’t getting enough of her attention. “After all, I’m at the intersection of several marginalized groups,” she says. Erica is a Black woman who identifies as lesbian, and she’s dealt with marginalization her entire life and career. That’s why she now works to change it: “I would like the opportunity to focus on changing the effects of marginalization in the workplace, making the working experience diverse, equitable, and inclusive for all,” she says.

Erica started her career in office management, which gave her her first glimpse of the human resources side of business. She then moved on from office management and HR towards the stuff she’s really passionate about: the employee experience. “I believe that the best way to achieve good business outcomes is to be fair towards and care for your employees,” Erica explains. In her new focus on employee experience, she got to do just that.

“There are a lot of technical parts to HR and the employee experience, but there’s a side that often gets lost: the ‘softer’ side of people operations,” she says. “As a people professional, you have to be approachable and empathetic — two traits that can be undervalued — in order to provide the best employee experience possible.”

The Chime connection

Erica knew Beth Steinberg, our VP of People and Talent, well before considering joining Chime. “In fact, Beth has always been a mentor and support to me,” Erica says. So when Beth reached out about our opening for a Diversity, Equity, and Belonging lead, Erica wanted to hear more.

“Not only does hiring someone to lead in DEB at this stage of a company’s growth signal Chime’s commitment to achieving real change, but it’s also an opportunity to focus on an area and issues I’ve cared about since day one,” Erica says.

Erica has found a close partner in Beth and our People team and loves how Chime’s dedication to our employees and members shows in our company-wide practices and our product, too.

Why DEB matters

To Erica, the case for DEB isn’t complicated: “When we have spaces where people can show up as their authentic selves, they do their best work, which in turn, contributes to our company doing well,” she explains.

A key part of people showing up as their authentic selves is having people in the room with different perspectives and experiences. Not only does a diverse team create a more inclusive workplace, it also helps us deliver a better product for our members. “It’s not just a moral question, it’s a business question — having a diverse team is both the right thing to do and the right thing for the business,” Erica explains.

Because Chime is in the business of providing financial peace of mind for members and, in particular, tackling financial health for those who might not have had the most positive opportunities and experiences, diversity is even more important in our work. “Chime touches all types of people and communities because not everyone has the same relationship with their finances,” Erica says. “I myself grew up not knowing much about money — I got my first credit card in college because they offered me a free t-shirt and pizza coupon,” she adds. Because Chime services a wide demographic of people with such a range of financial experiences, the most important thing to do as an organization is to have a similar range of people in the room to solve the problems at hand.

“The more voices you have in the room that can speak to different experiences, the better you’re able to solve problems for everyone,” Erica explains. “And the more diverse our workforce, the easier it is to create a sense of belonging and employee engagement at Chime — the two go hand in hand.”

Where to start

For Erica, DEB at Chime starts with an understanding of three primary areas:

• Diversity: To tackle diversity, DEB will partner with hiring managers and the recruiting team on what hiring diverse talent means and looks like and how to help build a diverse team at Chime.
• Equity: To ensure Chime is equitable, DEB will look at our processes and how equity manifests in our business practices, both for Chimers and our members.
• Belonging: When it comes to belonging, the question at hand is: What does feeling truly included look like for everyone? Erica knows very well that just because people are getting along doesn’t mean that their voices are being heard, so she’ll work to ensure Chimers are feeling seen and heard.

Erica has started by listening to what’s going on and how people feel across the organization. In her first few months, she met with every Chimer Resource Group (CRG) to understand their work and their ideas for the future.

One thing Erica isn’t looking to do is to fix everything. “I don’t have a magic wand to wave and make everything diverse, equitable, and inclusionary,” she explains. “My work is about helping to guide a broader group effort — because without everyone on board, and without a lot of effort and intention, we will never achieve our goals.”

Since joining Chime in November, one thing has stood out to Erica: Chimers’ commitment to and engagement with DEB, across the board. “My job is to help us create the most diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace possible — something a large percentage of Chimers have already put a lot of effort towards,” she says. So she’ll focus on distilling the many DEB goals across the company into an overarching strategy that can guide decisions involving the business, culture, and all company objectives.

From a culture standpoint, Erica will help mobilize our CRGs so they can make even more of an impact. And for the business, she’ll work with the Exec Team and departments like product, marketing, and legal to align everyone’s efforts in creating lasting change.

Where it will go

As Erica settles into her role and her work gains momentum, she’ll continue measuring our progress. “It’s easy to make changes, but you have to understand if they’re working,” she says. To do that, Erica and the team will rely on benchmarking and surveying the company — and understanding the story those numbers tell. She’s already started doing so, working with ReadySet — a third-party consulting firm — to analyze our programs, processes, and employee feelings around DEB. Partnering with ReadySet will help Erica get an unbiased understanding of where Chime is — and how Chimers feel — and identify actionable goals.

“For me, it’s important for us to focus on moving forward, not trying to fix everything at once,” Erica explains. “With time, things will shift and change, and so will our approach — after all, there is no quick fix for DEB. Our success will come down to our ability to move forward with tenacity, even though results aren’t immediate. After all, we’re dealing with human beings!”

And through the changes she’ll help make, Erica will help Chimers maintain alignment between our mission, business, and employee experience. “It all has to match up: our values, actions, member services, hiring — all of it — in order for Chime to succeed,” she says.

We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Erica leading our work to continue putting forth our values and make Chime a better workplace for Chimers and product for our members — and how the two are inextricably linked.