do.BETTER — Our D&I strategy

Over the past four years, Zalando has forged an empowering alliance with the Afro-Diasporic Academics Network (ADAN), a trailblazing network dedicated to dismantling barriers faced by Black and People of Colour within the African diaspora across the DACH region. Our collaborative journey with ADAN, ignited in 2020 in tandem with our Black Employee Connection, a Zalando Employee Resource Group.Together we worked on a model to broaden the representation of visible and invisible diversity dimensions and backgrounds by strategically widening our hiring pool.  In 2020-22, we ran an internship and mentorship program that saw 35 Black talents commence their career at Zalando. This initiative not only cultivated a pipeline of diverse talent but also ignited a ripple effect of positive change within our workforce.

ADAN's impact reverberated further as they facilitated enlightening sessions within our organisation, sparking crucial conversations on anti-racist behaviour. Their expertise became a great resource, most recently, ADAN consulted us on a project to diversify our brand partner portfolio and increase our number of Black-owned Brands.

For the last couple of years, Zalando has been part of the Advisory Board of Beyond Gender Agenda, a German networking organisation whose mission is to anchor Diversity, Equity and

Inclusion within listed and medium-sized companies in order to strengthen the German economy. It's an important partner for Zalando to showcase and celebrate women in leadership and create a space for exchange and recognition.

Girls Talk Corporation (GTC) is an organisation aiming to open doors to industries that are historically dominated by men. Since 2022, we have proudly hosted the Black Girls Tech Summit at our offices in Berlin, to empower women to progress in their careers in tech. With a wide array of workshops and panel talks, members from our Black Employee Connection and Women in Tech ERGs shared their experiences of working in tech generally, and at Zalando. Some participants went into dedicated career coaching sessions with our recruiters and gained access to our talent community for future open roles. Furthermore, Zalando has supported Berlin community building sessions, where throughout 2023, 300 women took part in meet-ups at Factory Berlin where GTC connected them to leading recruiters in the tech sector including Zalando to support women with upskilling and succeeding in the recruitment process. 

Formed by Zalando employees who identify as part of the Asia-Pacific community, the group advocates for and represents their experiences to create a more inclusive environment that considers intersectionality. They form a safe space to support, care for, and nurture members in and outside of Zalando.

The Black Employee Connection provides a safe space for Black employees to celebrate and empower Zalando’s Black community through the amplification of Black voices, the advancement of Black excellence, and by driving inclusion and sustainable change within Zalando.

Embracing the Jewish traditions, this group is dedicated to celebrating the diverse cultural milestones and fostering greater understanding. Open to everyone across Zalando, Jewish employees and allies alike, this group invites all to engage, discover, and support one another in the collective growth.

The Zalando LGBTQI+ ERG aims to connect and strengthen the community of LGBTQI+ employees. The group creates an open and inclusive environment where LGBTQI+ employees and allies feel a sense of belonging, and help Zalando to be a social change maker, ensuring that no one gets left behind. 

The Mental Wellbeing Community exists to help Zalando employees nurture the mental health and wellbeing of themselves and people they work with. The group aims to promote a safe platform for exchange on mental wellbeing challenges in their various forms and increase knowledge through thought-provoking enablements and events.

The Muslim Community Network is a group of volunteers who want to provide a platform for Muslims to connect, share and empower each other to be successful inside Zalando and with our careers.

The Neurodiversity ERG aims to create awareness, provide an exchange platform and understand the current neurodivergent community at Zalando. They support in building a more inclusive and understanding environment for our colleagues with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, Tourette Syndrome, or other neurodivergent conditions, but also teams and leads. The ERG’s goal is to have clear processes in place for employees to advance their careers and to become attractive for new talents and for them to have a great recruiting experience.

Women in Finance (WiFi) is  a community of women in any financial field at Zalando aiming to provide networking and personal development. By creating safer spaces that promote mutual support and women empowerment, we enhance our personal and professional growth potential. 

Zalando Parents Group is a parent-led initiative that aims to improve the representation of working and expecting parents at Zalando, helping to make Zalando even more family-friendly and inclusive. 

The goal of Zalando Women in Tech is to inspire and support women pursuing technology careers at Zalando. This group creates a space for women to share their ambition, knowledge and experience and aims to bring awareness and raise the visibility around the contributions and achievements of women in tech. Additionally, the group aims to create partnerships inside and outside of Zalando to attract, grow and retain more women in technology and engineering careers

This group aims to create and foster opportunities for empowerment of women at Zalando and beyond. The Zalando Women’s Network drives career development and community-building initiatives for anyone who identifies as a woman or supports this goal. 

The members form a strong network where they connect, share experiences and empower others.