Updated Racial Justice and DEI Corporate Scorecards Follow Eleven 99% Shareholder Votes
Updated Racial Justice and DEI Corporate Scorecards Follow Eleven 99% Shareholder Votes
Amid overwhelming shareholder approval of corporate DEI policies, updated scorecards show how 3,000 corporations perform on 64 metrics of racial justice and workplace equity.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, ryon@asyousow.org, (310) 730-9407
EL CERRITO, CA—May 19, 2025— Today, updated Racial Justice and Workplace Equity Scorecards rating 3,000 of the largest publicly traded US companies on 64 key performance indicators, was released by As You Sow. Several major updates were made, including 28 new and refined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on corporate social responsibility, internal diversity programs and policies, workforce data disclosure, external community engagement, and environmental justice. The research aligns with outspoken support by key corporate executives and near unanimous votes (above 98%) in 2025 to maintain current DEI policies and programs at Disney, Costco, Visa, Apple, Deere, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Levi’s, AMEX, Coca-Cola, Berkshire Hathaway, Bristol Myers, and Gilead. The total value of assets voted to support management DEI programs is over $4.1 trillion so far this year.
“Shareholders have overwhelmingly voted to endorse current merit-based diversity programs at 13 major corproatiosn so far this proxy season,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow. “Why? It’s because the data shows conclusively that increased workforce diversity leads to financial outperformance. Corporate executives and boards now have a clear mandate from their shareholders to base business decisions on business data and not on politics.”
As You Sow’s Racial Justice and Workplace Equity scorecards provide the most comprehensive view of publicly available data on corporate DEI programs. Both inform As You Sow's corporate engagements and provide valuable data for portfolio construction, corporate research, and academic studies.
Updates to the Racial Justice Scorecard include 28 new and updated KPIs across its five pillars: corporate responsibility, internal policies, workforce data disclosure, community actions, and environmental justice. New KPIs include DEI trainings for employees; participation in AI ethics groups, anti-prison labor policies; Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) recruitment pipelines; partnership programs with Civil Rights, climate and environmental justice organizations; and Human Rights violations. Racial Justice Scorecard results can be seen here.
“The latest Racial Justice Scorecard data reveals that most companies have not abandoned diversity, equity, and inclusion as corporate policies,” said Olivia Knight, racial and environmental justice manager at As You Sow, and author of the Racial Justice Scorecard. “Some are rebranding DEI programs to avoid censorship and to continue optimizing for financial outperformance regardless of the political winds.”
The Workplace Equity scorecard helps corporations and shareholders measure transparency of human capital management program effectiveness. More than half of the data pillars are the same as the previous report. The data fills a gap given that the SEC has yet to implement standardized data on financially relevant progress on diversity efforts. The scorecard measures disclosure of gender and ethnic diversity across a company’s management, and staff at all levels based on data shown to drive growth, as well as attract and retain employees. Workplace Equity Scorecard data can be seen here.
“We are seeing companies take actions to protect their diversity programs, as well as to improve and evolve them,” said Meredith Benton, workplace equity manager at As You Sow, founder of Whistle Stop Capital, and author of the Workplace Equity Scorecard. “Most companies we spoke with are building for the long term, ensuring that they have talented and loyal employees.”
The release of the two scorecards is the first major retooling of the KPIs since their initial release in November 2020. They continue to capture the evolving landscape of corporate workforce composition and justice policies despite the current political climate forcing companies to underperform as measured in As You Sow’s 2023 report, Capturing the Diversity Benefit: Workforce Diversity Linked to Financial Performance.
About As You Sow
As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility. Its focus areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, the Rights of Nature, racial justice, and workplace diversity. Click here to view As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.
About Whistle Stop Capital
Whistle Stop Capital is a research and analytics firm that supports asset owners and advisors in assessing and addressing social and environmental exposures within their investment portfolios. On behalf of clients, it researches, analyzes, and speaks with hundreds of companies a year on a range of sustainability and human rights-related topics. Whistle Stop manages the Workplace Equity program for As You Sow, which includes a Scorecard benchmarking 3000 companies on their disclosure of diversity and inclusion data.