Our Diversity and Inclusion Pledge

At REAL SIMPLE we aim to help everyone simplify their lives. Key to that mission is to understand the many structural and societal obstacles that our readers face and to respond with the most inclusive solutions.

We know that REAL SIMPLE readers are not a monolith: We are many races, sizes, identities, and abilities, we form different relationships and families, and we follow different cultural and religious traditions. We want REAL SIMPLE to be a valuable resource for all, and we will use our platform to foster inclusivity, equality, and human rights.

To that end, we make the following pledges:

1. Diversify our staff: As of March 2023, 22 percent of the REAL SIMPLE editorial staff identifies as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). We ensure that BIPOC candidates are considered for each open role we've posted and we will interview at minimum one BIPOC candidate for every open role.
   
   
2. Diversify our contributor network: REAL SIMPLE is committed to including diverse voices among our expert contributors. Our parent company, Dotdash Meredith, is working on formally auditing the diversity of our contributors, and our goal continues to be ensuring that at least 25 percent of regular REAL SIMPLE contributors identify as members of the BIPOC community.
   
   
3.  Highlight diverse voices and needs and normalize diverse imagery: Our policy is to interview experts and subjects that represent different communities, cultures, ages and lived experiences in every story we report, across all platforms, including print, digital, social and audio. Our writers always consider how their service journalism might better address the specific needs of our diverse audience. For instance, our fashion stories include brands with inclusive sizing, we frame nutrition stories as a way to improve wellness rather than lose weight, and we intentionally feature and support BIPOC-founded and -owned businesses. We are also committed to normalizing representation of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals, and a diverse range of bodies and abilities in our imagery. 
4. Remediate problematic past content: We are continually in the process of evaluating REAL SIMPLE's content from the past 20+ years that might not meet our current standards. We're currently reviewing our top 300+ most widely-read stories to update them and consider a more inclusive perspective. We're also in the process of eliminating outdated, offensive terms like "master bedroom," gender stereotypes, and mental health terms (crazy, obsessed, addicted) in non-medical contexts.
5. Increase the focus on and sensitivity of our coverage of cultural traditions. We're working with the Dotdash Meredith food group to eliminate white centering of recipes from a diverse range of cultures and cuisines. We've also broadened our coverage of holidays to include celebrations such as Holi, Passover, Ramadan/Eid al-Fitr, and Juneteenth.
   
6. Work with independent review boards: We are in the process of creating expert review boards that will evaluate content that makes medical claims or may affect the health, safety or finances of our readers. In addition, Dotdash Meredith's official Anti-Bias Review Board will periodically review our most popular and widely read articles with an eye toward eliminating intentional and unintentional bias.
   

While we are committed to the initiatives outlined above, we acknowledge that change requires time and patience, and that we might make mistakes along the way. To hold ourselves accountable, we will share our progress and updates regularly. If you have any questions about our plan, suggestions for how we can improve it, or referrals for contributors to hire or creators to feature, please email us: contact@realsimple.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Tara Cox, Managing Editor
Phoebe Flynn Rich, Creative Director
Lisa Freedman, Executive Editor
Katie Holdefehr, Associate Editorial Director
Lauren Iannotti, Editor in Chief
Mickey O'Connor, Senior Editorial Director
Amanda Wolfe, VP and General Manager

The Real Simple Team

Giving Back

REAL SIMPLE is a proud partner of WIN (Women in Need), a New York-based nonprofit that provides safe housing and essential services to homeless women and their children. We also co-sponsor (with the NextDoor community platform) the annual Good Neighbor Awards.

IAC, which owns Real Simple, has long supported organizations  fighting structural inequity and racial injustice, including The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, The Equal Justice Initiative, Reclaim the Block, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, ACLU, and The Bail Project. Additionally, in 2021, IAC launched IAC Fellows, an immersive education program designed to empower high-achieving students from underserved and under-resourced communities.