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Cynthia McEwen oversees DE&I at the fertility, family-building, and women’s health benefits company Progyny. The HR leader joined the organization in 2022, and although she wears “a number of hats,” she signed up to help direct its work bolstering employee resource groups (ERGs) to make sure leadership at the company shares the responsibility of growing in its DE&I work their employees.
McEwen comes to DE&I leadership with more than two decades of experience in the HR function, primarily in law offices, and as a consultant. She now works across departments with HR colleagues and beyond to spearhead initiatives and make sure the employee voice is heard in the C-suite.
For McEwen and Progyny, ERGs are vehicles for employees to “have a voice in the equity and inclusion space,” and “connect the goals and strategies of our leadership team and the needs and desires of our employees.”
DE&I work hits across the organization at Progyny, but especially in the benefits space, according to McEwen, who said the company is eyeing equity when it comes to what benefits to offer employees and prioritizing meeting them where they are at in life.
“There’s sort of a checkbox of benefits that you have to offer and so you do as a company, but when you’re in this space, when you are a benefits company, it is, I feel, much more important that you are ahead of the game when it comes to your total rewards package and what you offer to employees,” she said.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What’s the best change you’ve made at work?
I was brought on to champion the support and creation of ERGs to support the company’s diverse demographic, and I’ve been able to see firsthand how those communities have used their platform to influence the company for the better. The most rewarding part of building out these groups (including a menopause ERG) is the influence that they have on companies to look at and adopt new benefits and policies. For example, Amazon recently restructured their fertility and family-building benefits through us, and that was because one of their employee resource groups brought the need up to the company’s decision makers. Just being able to bring these issues to leadership and force them to rethink either what they already have in place, or investigate something that they don’t have, continues to ensure that companies are really offering the most inclusive benefits and policies for everyone they serve.
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What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job?
That HR is a regulatory role in the organization—[but] improving employee retention, satisfaction, and productivity is a proactive process.
What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?
As someone who wears both hats at Progyny—both on the DEI side and on the people side—being able to facilitate a support structure for employees that is inclusive is the best part of my job.
What trend in HR are you most optimistic about? Why?
I am most optimistic about HR as a business solution and not an administrative function. Automation allows us to move out of that “shuffling papers” sphere and into one where we think holistically about people-centered challenges and provide solutions that meet the strategic goals of the business.
What trend in HR are you least optimistic about? Why?
The growing negative perception of DEIB programs and initiatives. The naysayers have it wrong—diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives create better work environments for all.