Based in Toronto, Ashantè Fray has found her calling by building bridges through diversity and uplifting underserved communities. As a Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging – Educational Specialist at Indeed, she’s worked to create engaging content and initiatives to drive cultural diversity inside of the nation’s largest employment website.
Fray humbly describes her title as “a fancy way of saying that basically what I do from 9 to 5 is create and curate content for Indeedians to ensure we are creating or fostering a sense of continuous learning, especially in regards to equity issues.”
Enthusiastic about all things equity and diversity, opening doors for others has become a passion for Fray as she nears almost three years with the company. Since joining, Fray has been promoted three times, and she’s held a region-wide leadership role in Indeed’s LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Resource Group, iPride — a role Fray holds especially dear as a Black bisexual woman. Empowered by the support from Indeed, she says she’s able to “bring [her] whole self to work.”
It’s an experience Fray hopes more Black professionals can share when navigating the tech industry. “Don’t sell yourself short,” she advises. “Transferable skills are so important, and I think once we get [a college] degree, we get caught up and attached to what it is that degree means.”
“I try to break it down and show that the degree is really just showing that you have the ability to think critically. That you can hand in assignments on time, that you are accountable, that you can start something and finish it. And once you start realizing what that degree has given to you, you can look at your transferable skills and figure out where else these skills can be an asset somewhere.”
Having found her stride at Indeed, Fray credits those around her as part of her ongoing success. “I love building relationships with my team. I recently joined the Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Team back in October, so it’s been very inspiring to be surrounded by so many intelligent beings, so many people that are actively trying to push the needle in one way or another.”
Watch Ashantè Fray get real about what diversity, what that means at Indeed and more.
This editorial is brought to you in partnership with Indeed.
