The Knot Worldwide Furthers Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Joins Open to All®
Largest Global Digital Wedding Planning Company Pledges to Continue to Reject Discrimination and Offer An Inclusive Wedding Planning Experience Across its Platforms
NEW YORK, NY—January 26, 2021—Today, The Knot Worldwide, the global leader in digital wedding planning, joined Open to All and signed the Business Pledge, committing to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 16 countries around the world, The Knot Worldwide’s leading global family of brands inspire, inform, and celebrate communities as they move through life’s biggest milestones. The Knot Worldwide, with leading U.S. wedding planning brands The Knot and WeddingWire, joins more than 500,000 businesses large and small and over 200 nonprofits, in partnering with Open to All, the public education campaign focused on the longstanding principles that affirm when a business opens its doors to the public, it should be open to everyone on the same terms.
“As the global leader in digital wedding planning, we are, and always have been, committed to ensuring that we are a brand for all. Since day one, The Knot Worldwide has welcomed all couples and wedding professionals on to our platforms—no matter their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression —and we stand by our core belief of inclusivity,” said Tawanda Johnson, Vice President of People and DE&I for The Knot Worldwide. “We are equally committed to being an employer of choice and understand the importance of equity and representation in the workplace. We are proud to further our commitment to DE&I by joining Open to All.”
“Open to All is thrilled to welcome The Knot Worldwide to the Open to All coalition. From their demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in program and practice, to the launch of their new Fellowship for Change program, this company has demonstrated a deep commitment to the values of Open to All and to serving everyone with dignity and respect,” said Open to All Director Calla Rongerude. “As couples plan for the happiest day of their lives, they shouldn’t be worried that they or their guests will be discriminated against or mistreated. It is more important than ever for businesses to affirm inclusive values and The Knot Worldwide is leading the way in the wedding industry.”
Open to All is a nonprofit nondiscrimination campaign that believes everyone should be welcome regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, immigration status, religion or disability. Open to All businesses who sign the pledge commit to maintaining a welcoming and safe environment for people—including employees, visitors, customers, vendors and clients—and to not discriminate against any individuals or deny them goods or services based on any of these characteristics.
The Knot Worldwide’s most recent efforts around DE&I include the launch of Fellowship for Change, an eight-month intensive program that will provide career development opportunities for underrepresented wedding professionals in their first years of business. Created by WeddingPro—The Knot Worldwide’s B2B brand that connects small businesses nationwide with millions of engaged couples through The Knot and WeddingWire—Fellowship for Change will offer qualifying small business owners (those who identify as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latinx, Native American, Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, LGBTQ+, woman-owned and/or veteran-owned) exclusive educational resources, mentorship opportunities with renowned wedding professionals, networking and financial support in the form of advertising on The Knot and WeddingWire. For more information about Fellowship for Change and to apply as a fellow or mentor, visit https://go.weddingpro.com/fellowship-for-change. The submission deadline for fellows and mentors is 11:59 p.m. ET on January 26th and Fellowship for Change will officially kick off for 30 fellows on March 1, 2021.
Additionally, underrepresented wedding pros now have the option to identify their businesses within The Knot Marketplace and WeddingWire Vendor Directory using storefront badges and Diversity filters, including Asian-owned, Black-owned, Hispanic or Latinx-owned, LGBTQ+-owned, Native American-owned, Veteran-owned and Woman-owned. The filters will launch on The Knot and WeddingWire in February for couples to easily search and book wedding professionals.
As millennials and Gen Z are two of the most diverse, multicultural generations in history, allyship has become an important component of wedding planning for couples, even if they don’t identify as part of an underrepresented group. Based on couple feedback, the ability to search for and book wedding professionals who identify as one or more underrepresented groups is a growing wedding-planning priority. According to internal research from The Knot Worldwide, the majority of couples (55%) feel it’s important to be able to search for wedding businesses that are Black-owned, and further qualitative research indicates strong interest in also seeking out an inclusive and diverse vendor team.
http://www.opentoall.com/business-pledge/.
For more information about the Open to All coalition, or today’s announcement, please visit www.OpenToAll.com.
About The Knot Worldwide
With over four decades of expertise in the wedding industry, The Knot Worldwide is the largest global wedding planning company. The Knot Worldwide helps couples plan every aspect of their weddings, from finding inspiration and local wedding professionals to creating and managing all guest experiences, wedding registries and more through The Knot, WeddingWire, Bodas.net, Hitched.co.uk, WeddingWire.in, WeddingWire.ca, Matrimonio.com, Mariages.net and other brands. Having inspired and empowered more than 40 million couples to plan a wedding that’s uniquely them, The Knot Worldwide provides leading wedding marketplaces, personalized wedding websites, planning tools and registry services with its brands in 16 countries across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
The Knot Worldwide also includes lifestyle brands The Bump for pregnancy and parenting, The Bash for bringing important celebrations to life with entertainment vendors, How They Asked for proposal inspiration and stories and more. The company has US offices in New York, New York; Washington, DC; Norwalk, Connecticut; Austin, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; and Portland, Oregon; and international offices in Barcelona, Spain; Galway, Ireland; Guangzhou, China; Gurgaon, India; and London, England.