The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has called on Fortune 500 companies to reaffirm their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and set clear, measurable goals amid rising challenges to DEI programs nationwide.
Holding corporate America accountable
The CBC’s first-of-its-kind report aims to hold Fortune 500 companies accountable for their DEI pledges made after George Floyd’s murder in 2020.
Titled “What Good Looks Like”: A Corporate Accountability Report on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the report is based on months of meetings with hundreds of executives across different sectors and comes nearly a year after the CBC issued a corporate accountability letter in December 2023.
A follow-up in January 2024 showed that 28% of Fortune 500 companies responded, including 93 financial firms and 43 IT companies.
Advancing DEI amid challenges
The CBC’s call for corporate accountability comes as diversity initiatives face mounting legal and political challenges.
The racial wealth gap is six times greater for the average white family than the average Black family; the homeownership gap of Black Americans is 44% compared to 73% for their white counterparts.
However, following the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action, DEI efforts in both the private and public sectors have come under increasing scrutiny.
The report outlines 12 best practices to help companies improve diversity and equity in the workplace. Key areas include leadership accountability, pay equity, promotion rates, supplier diversity, and more.
“We cannot allow a handful of right-wing agitators to bully corporations,” CBC Chairman Steven Horsford says. “This report offers corporate America a guide to strengthening their diversity practices and advancing economic opportunity for all Americans.”
DEI benefits companies
Research continues to show that DEI practices benefit companies. According to a recent Harris Poll commissioned by the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, 78% of Americans support businesses taking active steps to ensure corporate America reflects the nation’s racial diversity.
A McKinsey & Company study also found that companies with racially diverse executive teams outperform their peers in profitability by 39%.
“The CBC commends corporate leaders who have overwhelminglay reaffirmed their company’s commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in their business practices and operations, and those who believe, like most Americans, that diversity is a business and talent imperative,” says Horsford.
Image credit: Annabelle Gordon
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