racial justice report

There is growing acknowledgment that systemic racism is the underlying cause of discrimination and injustice, and that corporations are complicit in perpetuating systemic racism. Despite the well-documented material benefits that companies gain through diversification, corporations have been slow to realize the critical role they play in perpetuating systemic racism. First steps have been taken by many companies by acknowledging the inequities that exist and expressing a willingness to change. Our role as shareholder advocates is to educate companies, so they can examine the implicit biases built into their systems. The Racial Justice Initiative helps companies achieve an antiracist perspective to enhance their business models and create a direct positive impact on the lives of all stakeholders.

Since 2020 the Racial Justice Initiative has developed Racial Justice Scorecards on the Large-Cap 3000, which track publicly available information on key actions related to racial equity; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) disclosure and policies; and environmental justice. We update our data quarterly, giving companies we engage with the opportunity to improve throughout the year. We conduct our annual deep-dive research from May through September. Our Scorecards serve as educational tools, guidelines to help a variety of stakeholders understand and gauge corporate progress on racial equity.

The Racial Justice Initiative directly engages public companies on their racial equity and DEI policies and practices. We use our Scorecards as the backbone of our corporate engagement strategy and use our key performance indicators (KPIs) as evaluation guidelines to track and monitor corporate progress. Our Racial Justice Scorecards have been used to create standards for investors, companies, and stakeholders to act responsibly in favor of racial equity.

METHODOLOGY, SCORING, AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

As You Sow’s Racial Justice Research Team has examined the websites, social media accounts, and sustainability reports for each company in the Large-Cap 3000 to determine the content and placement of Racial Justice Statements and their policies and practices related to this issue. We have also examined credible primary, secondary, and tertiary sources for corporate actions on environmental justice. In collaboration with our Advisory Committee, 27 key performance indicators were established to measure companies’ racial justice statements and corporate policies and practices related to DEI and environmental justice to develop individual corporate scorecards. Research and data for seven of our DEI Disclosure KPIs were taken directly from our partner program at As You Sow, Workplace Equity. The remainder of our Racial Justice KPIs were researched and scored by the team and subjected to a multi-level Quality Assurance process. Some scores are binary while others are based on a sliding scale. The weighting of each data set is a reflection of how important the information is. Pillars 1+2+3 total 20%. Pillars 4+5+6+7 total 80%. This gives action a 5x weighting over statements.

Our researchers visited corporate websites, looking through company reporting, blogs, sustainability/corporate responsibility/DEI/annual reports, and career pages as well as the companies’ social media sites. It is possible that they missed some reporting, or that the company has increased its reporting since our review. To inform us of corporate reporting not captured here, please send a note to [email protected].

LEADERS: TOP 10

LAGGARDS: BOTTOM 10

RACIAL JUSTICE SCORECARDS: QUARTERLY UPDATE KEY FINDINGS

• Of the Large-Cap 3000 companies, only 26% made statements in reference to George Floyd’s murder. Of these, 67% were posted on their websites; 33% on social media

• 24% of the Large-Cap 3000 companies have made a statement, or completed a public action, which referenced their CEO accepting responsibility to further racial equity

• 17% of the Large-Cap 3000 companies that made a statement named victims of police violence

• Only 8% of the Large-Cap 3000 companies that made a statement which stated that Black Lives Matter

• Only 108 companies in the Large-Cap 3000 stated that they are, or aspire to be, antiracist companies and/or are conducting antiracist trainings

• 255 companies in the Large-Cap 3000 have a C-Suite Level executive leading the company’s DEI Department. These 255 people have DEI, or a similar term, in their corporate title, and lead DEI-focused departments, programs, and/or taskforces.

• 19% of the Large-Cap 3000 companies have made financial donations to racial justice organizations/causes

• Only 98 of the Large-Cap 3000 companies publicly recognized, or made statements regarding environmental justice in relation to their business practices

• 397 of the Large-Cap 3000 companies have between 1 and 25 environmental violations since 2020

• Only five companies in the Large-Cap 3000 have more than 100 environmental violations each since 2020

• Only one company, McDonald’s, received the lowest possible score for having disproportionate effects on BIPOC communities

• Of the Large-Cap 3000 companies, 125 companies have a total score that is less than zero, meaning that they do more harm to communities of color than they make up for with positive policies and practices. The majority of the low scorers are in the Industrials sector, followed by the Materials and Energy sectors

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND SCORING RUBRIC

Data Visualization

Download Previous Reports

As You Sow Statement

2020 Webinar & Slides

Environmental Justice Initiative

Workplace Equity Initiative

Advisory Committee

Research Fellows

Environmental Justice Case Studies