Intentional DEI Strategy with Dionna Smith

In this episode of Reimagining Company Culture, we spoke with Dionna Smith, Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Thumbtack. Dionna has built her career around moving DEI work out of the reactive cycle and into a more intentional, measurable, and sustainable practice. Her approach has real operational discipline, and it is a useful contrast to the pattern most organizations fall into.

The shift Dionna talked about is the difference between DEI programs that respond to the moment and DEI strategy that is designed to outlast it. The first produces visible activity. The second produces measurable change. Both have a place, but without the second, the first eventually becomes exhausting and unmoored.

What Intentional DEI Strategy Actually Requires

Intentional DEI strategy is DEI work that is deliberately designed, funded, and measured as a multi-year commitment. It has a named leader with real authority, a clear operating rhythm, a budget that survives the next reorg, and a set of outcomes tied to business metrics. It does not rely on individual heroism or on the enthusiasm of whoever is in the executive seat this quarter.

McKinsey's Diversity Matters Even More research makes the case that the performance gap between top-quartile and bottom-quartile companies has widened, and the widening is driven by the bottom quartile losing ground. Intentional strategy is what keeps an organization from drifting into that bottom group when attention shifts elsewhere.

Dionna described intentional strategy as the difference between building a house and putting up a tent. The tent is quick, serves a purpose for one event, and disappears. The house requires more upfront work, but it is still standing when the next storm comes. Most DEI programs are tents. Intentional strategy is a house.

That framing is useful when DEI leaders are negotiating budget. A tent conversation ends when the event is over. A house conversation sets up a multi-year investment schedule and avoids the annual fight over whether DEI should continue to exist as a discipline.

How Intentional Strategy Shows Up in Practice

What is the difference between intentional DEI and reactive DEI?

Intentional DEI is built on a theory of change, has explicit outcomes, and accepts that some investments will take two to three years to show impact. Reactive DEI responds to the latest social moment or PR concern and tends to pivot programs every eighteen months.

How do you keep DEI strategy from drifting?

Write down the theory of change, publish it internally, and review progress against it quarterly. Without a written strategy, every new executive brings their own version, and the work loses coherence across leadership transitions.

What Actually Works When Building Intentional Strategy

Principle 1: Tie DEI outcomes to business metrics

Retention, promotion velocity, and engagement by group are all business outcomes. Framing DEI strategy in those terms makes it easier to defend in budget conversations and harder to deprioritize when other priorities compete for attention.

Principle 2: Invest in the manager layer

DEI that lives at the executive level and in ERGs but does not reach the manager layer almost always stalls. Manager capability is where the theory of change meets the daily behavior that produces the outcomes.

Principle 3: Pair strategy with strong case operations

A DEI strategy without visibility into ER patterns is working blind. Teams using structured case management and a DEI-aligned operating model can see where the theory of change is working and where it is not.

Another useful lens is the distinction between strategy and tactics. DEI teams often conflate the two, which leaves them without a real strategy and with a long list of tactical projects that pull in different directions. An intentional strategy gives every tactic a clear reason to exist and a clear measure of success.

When that discipline is missing, DEI work expands to fill the available time. Adding clarity at the strategy layer is often the single highest impactful move a DEI leader can make, and it does not require additional budget to start.

The strongest intentional programs also connect directly to the organization's engagement operating model, because strategy without a delivery mechanism almost never produces measurable change.

Where Employee Relations Fits

ER is the data source that tells intentional DEI strategy what is actually happening versus what leaders think is happening. When the strategy assumes that a new manager program is reducing bias and the ER case data shows a rising volume of exclusion complaints in the same population, the strategy needs to adjust.

ER drill-down: tying case patterns to strategy milestones

The simplest version of this is to map each major DEI strategy milestone to two or three expected ER signals. If the milestone is improved manager behavior around inclusion, the expected ER signal is a reduction in specific case types. If the signal does not move, the milestone has not been reached, regardless of what the training completion dashboard says.

This kind of honest tracking is what separates intentional strategy from performative strategy. It is also how DEI leaders stay credible over the long run, because they are the first to flag when something is not working.

Frequently Asked Questions About Intentional DEI Strategy

How long does it take to see results from an intentional DEI strategy?

Meaningful shifts in engagement and retention usually show up in year two. Structural shifts in promotion and pay typically take three to five years. Teams expecting faster results tend to pivot before the investment pays off.

Is intentional DEI feasible for small companies?Yes, though the form is different. A smaller company cannot sustain a large program, but it can still have a written strategy, a named owner, and a quarterly review rhythm. Size is less important than discipline.

How does intentional DEI strategy survive a change in CEO?By being written down, institutionalized in operating rhythms, and tied to business metrics the new CEO will inherit. Strategy that lives in one executive's head rarely survives a leadership transition.

What is the biggest risk to intentional DEI work?Losing the named owner without a clear succession plan. DEI leadership turnover is common, and most organizations underinvest in continuity. A clear strategy document and an engaged CHRO partner are the best protection.

How does intentional DEI handle political pressure?By focusing the public narrative on business outcomes and the internal work on employee experience. Organizations that tie DEI exclusively to a political frame struggle when the politics shifts. Organizations that tie it to retention, engagement, and turnover cost data hold their ground more easily.

Dionna also talked about the importance of storytelling inside the organization. Intentional strategy without a story is hard to sustain, because employees and managers need to understand the why behind the work. The best DEI leaders pair rigorous measurement with a clear narrative that reaches every layer of the company.

Additional perspective from Catalyst's workplace intersectionality guidance reinforces that intentional strategy outperforms reactive programs. Multi-year commitment and measurement rigor produce better outcomes than short-term campaigns, even when the campaigns are well-received in the moment.

The Bottom Line for HR Leaders

Dionna's experience points to a pattern many DEI leaders recognize. The work that produces results is rarely the work that produces the most visible activity. Intentional strategy is quieter, more measured, and more durable. It is also less satisfying in the short term, because the wins are cumulative rather than dramatic.

HR leaders who want to move DEI forward should invest more in the strategy layer and less in the next one-off program. The strategy layer is where the ownership, the budget, the operating rhythm, and the outcomes live. Without it, every program is a one-quarter effort that fades once the sponsor moves on.

The organizations that treat DEI as a real strategic commitment, complete with documented theory of change and measured outcomes, are the ones still making progress when the noise dies down. That is the work worth doing.

See how AllVoices supports intentional DEI strategy with connected case data and operating rhythms.