RACIAL JUSTICE

Racial Justice Initiative

 

Watch NBC Today Show: Our Racial Justice Scorecard

In May 2020, the world witnessed the horrific death of George Floyd, shocking Americans into confronting the racial injustice experienced by Black Americans daily. This event forced a re-evaluation of our most fundamental beliefs and institutions and became a catalyst for change. As You Sow®, the nation’s leading non-profit in shareholder advocacy, created the Racial Justice Initiative to hold corporations accountable on the racial justice statements issued in response to George Floyd’s murder and the national uprising demanding eradication of systemic racism. The purpose of the Initiative is to monitor corporate responses and follow up with companies to ensure that statements of support for racial justice are translated into concrete actions that truly promote equity, thereby helping them on the path to end corporate complicity in systemic racism.

View our Racial Justice Scorecard Data Visualization Tool

+ Corporate Engagement on Racial Justice

There is growing acknowledgment that systemic racism is the underlying cause of discrimination and injustice, and that corporations are complicit in perpetuating systemic racism. 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 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 1000, which track publicly available information on key actions related to racial equity, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) disclosure and policies, and environmental justice. Our Scorecards serve as educational tools and guidelines to help a variety of stakeholders understand and gauge corporate progress on racial equity. We update our data quarterly, giving companies we engage with the opportunity to improve throughout the year. We conduct our intensive annual research from May – September.

The Racial Justice Initiative directly engages public companies on their racial equity and DEI policies and practices. Our Scorecards are the backbone of our corporate engagement strategy and our key performance indicators (KPIs) are evaluation guidelines which 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.

+ Community and Corporate Engagement for Environmental Justice

View our Environmental Justice Case Studies

To end systemic racism, it is necessary to understand that racism extends beyond corporate boardrooms and offices, permeating the entire environment. “More than half of the people who live within 1.86 miles of toxic waste facilities in the United States are people of color.” 1 As You Sow recognizes the critical importance of incorporating an environmental justice framework into our racial justice work, and into our research at large. Our environmental justice shareholder advocacy work is focused on elevating community voices to C-Suite management and the board of directors at public companies, with a long-term goal of using this approach to help reduce systemic harm overall. We strive to make localized connections with grassroots environmental justice organizations, and local community groups across America. These organizations have long led the charge to challenge corporations over their harmful actions. We take the time to form respectful, in-depth partnerships that lead to trusting relationships and allow As You Sow to support community goals and organizations’ missions. We exert inside pressure on corporate management through shareholder advocacy framed by compelling community stories and informed by community health and emissions data. We carry the community message to management, reframe company inaction as a material business risk, and seek to drive rapid change through direct engagement, escalating to a formal shareholder resolution if needed.

+ Racial Justice Scorecards: Quarterly Update Key Findings as of December 31st, 2023

View our Racial Justice Scorecard Data Visualization Tool

  • The Utilities sector has the highest average sector scores, followed by Communication Services and Consumer Staples
  • The Energy sector has the lowest average scores, followed by Materials, Healthcare, Industrials, and Real Estate
  • 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
  • 22% of the Large-Cap 3000 companies have made a statement, or completed an 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 65 companies in the Large-Cap 3000 companies called for some type of criminal justice reform after George Floyd’s murder in 2020
  • Only 10% of companies in the Large-Cap 3000 reference the phrase “systemic racism” publicly, while an additional 11% acknowledge pervasive racism
  • Only 77 companies in the Large-Cap 3000 stated that they are, or aspire to be, antiracist companies and/or are conducting antiracist trainings
  • 19% of the Large-Cap 3000 companies have made financial donations to racial justice organizations/causes
  • Only 79 the Large-Cap 3000 companies publicly recognized, or made statements regarding environmental justice in relation to their business practices
  • 489 of the Large-Cap 3000 companies have between 1 and 25 environmental violations since 2015
  • Only ten companies in the Large-Cap 3000 have more than 100 environmental violations each since 2015
  • Five companies, Alphabet, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, McDonald’s, and Nucor Corp. received the lowest possible score for having disproportionate effects on BIPOC communities
  • Of the Large-Cap 3000 companies, 166 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
  • Only seven companies have completed an independent Civil Rights/ Racial Equity audit and released the results publicly
 


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