Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Simpson Strong-Tie

At Simpson Strong-Tie, we believe treating everyone with respect and dignity. We also believe great change comes with great commitment. It’s our responsibility to work toward an inclusive, equitable and diverse company, and to positively impact our local and global communities.

Our company founder Barc Simpson’s Nine Principles of Business are our company values and serve as our north star to keep guiding our steps in the right direction. In Company Value #5 — Everybody Matters, Barc said, “Everybody in a company is important. Everybody. That’s absolutely crucial and so you must do everything you can to make people feel that they’re valued.”

We want everyone who works at Simpson Strong-Tie to feel valued and build their careers here. We’ve created a unique culture that recognizes the talents and contributions of every individual and encourages ideas and feedback in all aspects of our business. And while our values and culture have stood us in good stead for more than 60 years, we understand the need to go beyond principle to ensure we are promoting diversity in hiring, thought and leadership.

Through our collective commitment to our values and our desire for great change, we will fight discrimination and use the power of diversity, equity, and inclusion to strengthen Simpson Strong-Tie and our communities.

Where We Are Now

• Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Steering Committee is actively developing a multifaceted plan with concrete goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our company.
• In 2020, we donated $40,000 to organizations supporting human rights and the Black Lives Matter movement.
• In 2020, Vice President of Engineering Annie Kao was named in the Girl Geek X List of Top 60 Women Leading Engineering Teams.
• In 2018, Simpson Strong-Tie was named a Finalist for NACD NXT, a multi-year initiative to highlight breakthrough corporate boardroom practices that promote greater diversity, equity, and inclusion to foster long-term value creation and help develop the next generation of boardroom leadership.
• Our former Chief Executive Officer Karen Colonias was honored as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business 2018 by the San Francisco Business Times.
• Simpson Strong-Tie was recognized in the first-ever Watermark Index as modeling the way for gender diversity in corporate leadership. In 2015, we were one of only 11 companies in the San Francisco Bay Area where women held 30% or more of the top five executive positions and board seats. Currently, women hold 38% of the company’s top five executive positions and board seats, helping to pave the way for gender diversity in corporate leadership.