A Running Tally of How U.S. Companies Are Advancing Racial Equity

Over the past year, we’ve seen corporate leaders acknowledging the scale of racial injustice in our country and many have committed to doing their part to address these inequities. But while companies have made statements of support at an unprecedented pace, it remains challenging to assess how they’re taking concrete action to advance racial equity in their workplaces, communities, and society. 

That’s why we’ve launched our first iteration of The Corporate Racial Equity Tracker – providing a clear picture of disclosure on 22 key measures of diversity, equity, and inclusion, from workforce demographics to pay equity to community investment, by America’s 100 largest employers.

The majority of Americans continue to see a role for companies in promoting racial equity in the workplace and in society – and they’re looking to the private sector to do more. To further monitor how corporate America is responding to these expectations, we’ll continue to track significant announcements from companies not captured in the first iteration of the Tracker below, updated weekly.

Evolving Product/Service Offerings 

• ADP has created a dashboard to help companies analyze the diversity, equity, and inclusion aspects of their business.
• Glassdoor launches a new product feature that reveals employee provided company ratings and salary reports broken out by specific demographic groups,  specifically, salary data is broken out by gender identity and race/ethnicity.
• Nasdaq amends its push for more diverse boards within the companies listed on its exchange, adjusting timelines and adding less stringent rules for the smallest firms on its list.
• Netflix announced the creation of a $100 million creative equity fund – including a $5 million training and mentorship program for female filmmakers – to improve diversity on film following the release of its diversity and inclusion study analyzing Netflix content.
• Nielsen announces that they will begin tracking diversity and inclusion on TV.
• Procter & Gamble launches a new initiative to invest in content creation, talent development, media partnerships, and more to advance the inclusion of Black storytellers in advertising, film, and television.

Diversity Hiring & Data Disclosures

• Accenture releases an extremely thorough diversity and inclusion report on its workforce.
• Amazon pledges to double its number of Black leaders this year and ban non-inclusive language from documents.
• Ford surveys its 180,000 workforce to advance its diversity and racial equity initiatives. 
• JPMorgan set quantitative targets to increase representation of women, veterans, and employees with disabilities, demonstrating a commitment to equity across the organization. In 2019, JPMorgan committed to hiring over 4,000 Black students into entry-level roles over five years, and invested in Black talent retention with its Advancing Black Leaders initiative.
• PwC releases its first Diversity & Inclusion report.
• Walmart backed a McKinsey study – Race in the Workplace: The Black Experience – examining racial inequity in the private sector, particularly in higher-wage, higher-growth industries.
• Zillow, United Airlines, Nordstrom, and several other large corporations sign a pledge to add more Black directors to their ranks.

Connecting Executive Pay to DEI Targets

• Apple will incorporate an ESG modifier into executive compensation structure, cutting or raising bonuses by 10% based on performance against key company values, including diversity and inclusion.  
• Chipotle announces that, starting this year, 10% of its executives’ annual bonuses will be tied to their progress toward DEI and other ESG goals. 
• Mastercard links compensation for its senior executives to ESG initiatives, around three specific priorities: carbon neutrality, financial inclusion, and gender pay parity.
• McDonald’s is tying 15% of its executives’ annual bonuses to meeting diversity and inclusion targets. 
• Nike is linking its executive compensation to newly set 2025 diversity and inclusion targets. 
• Starbucks announces that metrics relating to building diverse and inclusive teams will be included in executive compensation plans. 

Community/Business Investment

• Ariel Investments announces a new initiative to scale sustainable minority-owned businesses and close the racial wealth gap.
• Charles Schwab announced on Jan. 13 it was dissolving its PAC and no longer making political donations, and that funds remaining in the PAC would be donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of American and historically Black colleges and universities.
• Citigroup is working with Black-owned investment firms for a $2.5 billion bond issuance.
• Goldman Sachs announces that, over the next decade, it will invest $10 billion in businesses that benefit Black women. The firm also joined Starbucks, the Wharton School, the ACLU and other organizations to form a coalition to help close the Black wealth gap.  
• JPMorgan Chase announces new investments as part of its $30 billion commitment to lift up Black and brown communities, including $350 million to support underserved small businesses, a $42.5 million to a “Entrepreneurs of Color Fund,” and new “lounges” serving entrepreneurs.
• Mastercard issues a $600 million sustainability bond that will support initiatives for both carbon reduction and internal inclusivity efforts.
• Netflix has partnered with The Change Company to expand Black homeownership across the U.S. 
• PayPal invests more than $50 million in eight Black- and Latino- led venture capital firms as part of its $530 million pledge to support Black-owned businesses and minority neighborhoods.
• PepsiCo distributed more than 50 million meals to low-income populations during the pandemic, and shared its distribution knowledge with partners to ensure that food could reach students who were no longer receiving meals at school.
• Target unveiled a racial equity plan for the company, including a $10 million pledge to advance social justice in its communities, and creating the REACH committee for developing internal actions the company can take. It later pledged to spend over $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025.
• Twitter announces a $100 million investment in community development financial institutions (CDFIs), in a new initiative aimed at combating “racial injustice and persistent poverty.”
• Wells Fargo makes equity investments in 11 Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs)  as part of a broader $50 million pledge to support Black-owned banks.

Anti-Discrimination Programs 

• McDonald’s will now require anti-harassment training for its 2 million worldwide employees across 39,000 stores.