How Vimeo’s IT Compliance Manager Helps Amplify Black Voices

When it comes to supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, video platform Vimeo believes in doing the hard work necessary to foster progressive change. This idea is reflected in the company’s recent response to Black Lives Matter and the racial justice movement sweeping the globe. 

One Vimean who’s effecting real change is Olivia Fowora, an IT compliance manager, who co-leads Vimeans of Color, one of the company’s employee community groups (ECGs) that fosters a safe space for people to raise issues related to race. 

Fowora shared her experience at Vimeo with Built In NYC, and the work she’s doing to amplify Black voices — both internally and externally — through internal forums, workshops, dedicated Slack groups and more.

Olivia Fowora

IT Compliance Manager • Vimeo

Olivia, tell us about your background. What is your previous work experience and how did that lead you to Vimeo?

My work experience has been a bit of a winding road but all roads have led to compliance. I enjoy the fact that compliance is an integral part of how organizations run and that compliance helps drive risk prevention and best practice within an organization. Prior to Vimeo, I worked for a digital identity verification company called Socure where I was able to further my understanding of an incredible algorithm-based product that looks to make access to banking and retail more accessible through automated identification. 

Before Socure, I worked as project manager and consultant with Winsor Consult Group and the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, also in a compliance capacity. There, I developed compliance controls to help the program adhere to the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds requirements for procuring certified minority and women on business entities (MWBE) to support the agency’s projects. In all of these cases, I have loved the opportunity to gain hands-on understanding of how organizations run and create strategies to develop greater efficiencies, policies and procedures. 

Describe your role and responsibilities. 

In my current role at Vimeo, we believe that our creators’ security is of the utmost importance, and with the ever-evolving landscape of security issues, we continue to build upon the measures we employ to protect our creators. As such, Vimeo has implemented various security controls for all Vimeo business lines. 

These policies and procedures ensure ongoing monitoring to maintain security across the organization. The security team consists of compliance managers and security engineers and allows for ongoing review of products, features and the development policies and procedures that are informed by various relevant stakeholders. This ensures that security is always iterative and collaborative at Vimeo. 

Within the last year, the security team has grown substantially from a few individuals focusing on both security and engineering to an exceptional dedicated security team. This growth has allowed for the development of a world-class security program. 

Vimeo stands for racial justice.”

Diversity, equity and inclusion is one of Vimeo’s core values. What kind of actions or programs has Vimeo championed to live out those core values?

My work as an employee community group (ECG) co-lead allows me to see firsthand the impact Vimeo ECGs have on fostering Vimeo’s core values. As a Vimeans of Color (VOC) co-lead, I work to ensure that this ECG for people of color is mission-driven. VOC provides a safe environment at Vimeo for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) employees and their allies. As Vimeans of color, we believe celebrating our differences and sharing our cultures and backgrounds is the best way to create a world devoid of discrimination with true equality for all races. 

Vimeo gives ECGs the resources to support Vimeans and to promote economic empowerment for the communities we represent. This work is extremely fulfilling for me and the incredible team that I leverage for support to make all of these incredible initiatives happen. 

What does the responsibility of leading an ECG look like and what does Vimeo do to support ECGs?

ECG leadership includes the opportunity to connect with people who look like me and to share unique experiences that others might not be as able to relate to. Vimeo supports ECGs by empowering ECG leads and subcommittee chairs to foster these incredible environments. As an ECG lead, I’ve had the opportunity to leverage VOC as a vehicle for change within Vimeo.

Working with this incredible team, I have had the opportunity to develop leadership skills and a true sense of community within an organization. I have also had the incredible opportunity to engage with a professional coach through Sayge professional coaching, which has been monumentally impactful for my career planning. 

What stance is Vimeo taking during current events like the Black Lives Matter movement? What opportunities do they provide for employees to get involved?

Vimeo stands for racial justice. Following the death of George Floyd, Vimeo doubled down on its commitment to amplifying black voices, supporting black employees and adding diversity to the company at all levels. We’ve hosted internal forums, workshops and created Slack groups to continually advance the conversations and actions from within our company. We also have curated channels that spotlight videos from our community to create empathy, connect others, teach others and expose truth. Vimeo has also donated to the Movement for Black Lives.