As private equity firms strive to become more inclusive, chief diversity officers from three firms with advanced strategies spoke at our M&A’s Leaders in DEI Speak event and shared their approaches. Mergers & Acquisitions recently recognized all three in our inaugural PE Leaders in DEI list, featured in our September issue.

“Carlyle, through its over 200 portfolio companies around the world, employs nearly 1 million people, so it’s a pretty exciting platform to drive change broadly,” said Kara Helander, managing director, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Carlyle Group Inc. (Nasdaq: CG). The firm has recently tied compensation to progress on diversity, equity and inclusion, starting with the CEO and giving DEI Incentive Awards to employees. “You pay for what you care about and what matters. We’ve given $2 million to 50 of our colleagues who have gone above and beyond in driving DEI in the firm.” READ MORE