A leap forward in Adobe’s reconciliation journey

Adobe has launched its Reconciliation Action Plan with a traditional smoking ceremony and a celebration of First Nations cultures.

As Australians, we’re privileged to have the richness of the world’s oldest living continuous culture as central to our national identity. For more than 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures have been passed through the generations, and it is our responsibility to ensure that heritage continues to flourish.

It’s also important to be honest about the adverse impact of Australia’s colonial history on First Nations peoples and the significant hardships that continue today. We must not only speak out against these racial injustices but take action to drive equality and unity at every opportunity.

In all its forms, reconciliation is just one part of recognising the truth of the past and providing a stronger foundation for inclusion and respect into the future. That’s why Adobe is proud to have launched its Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) last December.

Celebrating Country, community and creativity

In March 2021, Adobe began its reconciliation journey and has embraced the engagement with First Nations communities, our people, and partners in the almost two years since. As we launched our RAP, it was an opportunity to come together for an ancient, traditional ceremony held on the land of the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation, where Adobe’s Sydney office is located.

We were honoured to have members from First Nations communities travel from around Australia to take part in the celebration. Our RAP was ushered in with a traditional smoking ceremony intended to provide a cleansing of bad spirits and signify healing and a brighter future.

It provided a powerful opportunity to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we live in, reaffirm our commitment to reconciliation and celebrate the connections between Country, community and creativity embodied within First Nations cultures.

Capturing this sentiment, Reconciliation Australia’s Chief Executive Office, Karen Mundine, said, “Implementing an Innovate RAP signals Adobe’s readiness to develop and strengthen relationships, engage staff and stakeholders in reconciliation, and pilot innovative strategies to ensure effective outcomes.”

Planning into action

The RAP itself charts a course for the work ahead to contribute to the reconciliation movement. However, for Adobe, the RAP is more than a plan. It’s a blueprint for driving impactful reconciliation outcomes and holds us accountable to the objectives we’ve set.

That starts with our vision for reconciliation: That every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Person is equally respected, valued and included. We’re determined to harness our dedication to diversity and inclusion and our ability to bring together people, communities, and technology as central planks of our reconciliation efforts.

Our RAP outlines a range of initiatives Adobe will undertake around the categories of Relationships, Respect, Opportunities and Governance. This includes increasing the participation of First Nations peoples in our workforce by expanding our reach and hiring, retention and professional development processes. This extends to include more First Nations businesses in our supply chain through our global supplier diversity efforts.

This will be supported by cultural awareness training for all Adobe employees and creating community through our global Indigenous and First Nations at Adobe employee network. An inclusive workplace will be further fostered by displaying Indigenous artwork and Acknowledgement of Country plaques and celebrating cultural events such as NAIDOC Week, Reconciliation Week, and Indigenous Heritage Month.

Importantly, we will continue to work closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to help strengthen our cultural understanding, advance digital equality initiatives and support First Nations artists and creative businesses.

Our reconciliation focus

When we consider the importance of 65,000 years of First Nations knowledge, storytelling, and creativity, we are humbled by the power of culture. In Adobe’s relatively short 40-year history, we have seen it firsthand, and our commitment to reconciliation reflects our belief that everyone has an inherent right to respect and equal treatment.

This aligns with our ‘Adobe for All’ philosophy and broader commitment to diversity and inclusion, grounded in the principles of being genuine, innovative, involved, and exceptional. These extend across Adobe’s workforce, workplace, and ecosystem globally.

Implementing our RAP will continue to rely on deepening engagement with communities, Adobe teams, suppliers, partners, and stakeholders to advance our vision for reconciliation. Already, the hard work of all involved has set us up for success.

This includes the continued support of Adobe’s Australia and New Zealand and Asia Pacific leadership teams, the Employee Experience team, and our RAP Working Group - who came together to create a ‘One Adobe’ vision for reconciliation.

Special acknowledgement must go to Narrunga and Ngarrindjeri man, Brendan Littlechild, who acted as our Indigenous consultant to the RAP Working Group and guided our engagement with local communities. Reconciliation Australia has also been a tremendous supporter and a valuable source of guidance.

We were also honoured to have Wiradjuri and Ngiyampaa person, Charlotte Allingham create an artwork for our RAP titled Sovereign Stories, Sovereign People.

As outlined in our RAP, there are many individuals and organisations who have supported and encouraged the development of our RAP. Thanks to all of you for the yarns, advice, partnerships, and cultural enrichment as we have embarked on this journey.

In developing our first RAP, we embraced the process of celebrating and educating others about the vibrant cultures and creativity of First Nations Peoples of Australia. We are excited that there is plenty more to come.

You can find Adobe’s full RAP here.