Kristen, Vice President Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at eharmony
“Real love is for everyone. We’re committed to providing a platform that reflects that. Courage is important if we’re going to do anything meaningful and make meaningful change.”
Who are we? What do we stand for? What values do we represent? These questions are at the heart of Kristen Berry’s job as eharmony’s Vice President Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility. Her May 2020 start at the US-based online dating platform came at an eventful time. The COVID-19 pandemic, political disputes as well as movements such as “Black Lives Matter” were all generating calls for structural change and increased inclusivity in the United States. “People are expecting companies like us to create an environment that’s as inclusive as possible. They want the brands that they support to reflect their values,” Kristen says. For eharmony, which is part of ParshipMeet Group, the events of the last several years have offered an opportunity to develop new ideas for addressing these issues more directly. As Kristen and her team were crafting the corporate social responsibility strategy, they focused on one thought in particular: “How can we better support all of our community?” After all, especially when it comes to online dating, it is important to users to present themselves authentically while also making sure they are connecting with the people they are really looking for. “Real love is for everyone. We’re really committed to providing a platform that reflects that,” Kristen says. “It doesn’t matter what your racial background is, what your religious beliefs might be, or who you love. If somebody is looking for a real and meaningful connection, then eharmony should be the place to find that.”
That is why users have since 2021 been able to specify whether they are specifically interested in men, women, or all people when dating – an important change supporting bisexual people seeking partners. And this is just the beginning. eharmony is constantly looking for new ways to become even more inclusive for all its members, including people of all gender identities and sexual orientations. Mindful of this goal, Kristen launched what is dubbed the “Product & Marketing Inclusion Task Force” in 2020. Twice a month, this group explores changes in the market and jointly analyzes the company’s own products with a view to diversity, equality, and inclusion. What do all these efforts and changes call for? Kristen is sure that eharmony could not function without Courage as a value: “Courage is important if we’re going to do anything meaningful and make meaningful change. The safest option might be to just maintain the status quo. But if we don’t do things that scare us a little, we’ll never make real change.”
