“We put this into our corporate responsibility report, and we said it’s time for us to put a stake in the ground with some goals around diversity and inclusion,” Powers explained.Īssessments on where objectives could be advanced showed that the company needed to include more minorities in marketing - and this year, those efforts will feature its first transgender influencer. In the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer survey, which annually polls individuals on their levels of confidence in institutions, 76% of people agreed that CEOs can facilitate positive changes better than the government.ĭeckers - parent of Ugg, Hoka One One and Teva - affirmed publicly in 2017 its corporate purpose as inclusion for all, spanning issues such as diversity, gender equality and female empowerment.ĬEO Dave Powers recalled at FN’s CEO Summit in May that being transparent with its mission and strategy “made it so that we had to hold ourselves accountable as a leadership team.” “It would’ve been a risk as a corporate driver, and now there’s risk of not doing anything.” “Ten years ago, you did not see companies and CEOs weighing in on issues that are social,” Sears said. Nearly 75% of all purchases made by LGBTQ constituents are influenced by the company’s public support for the community at all levels - including charitable contributions, inclusive work environments and advocating for equality on national policy levels. In fact, a majority of Americans look to corporations to take the lead on social causes as public trust in government has waned to historic lows only 17% of Americans say they trust politicians to do what is right, according to the Pew Research Center. “All of these companies understand in various degrees that is a business driver,” said Todd Sears, founder of Out Leadership, an advisory firm that helps companies grow business through LGBTQ inclusion.
Nike Inc., Amazon and Target Corp were among the 379 corporations that petitioned the Supreme Court in a friend-of-the-court brief to strike down state bans. and Levi Strauss & Co.ĭuring the fight for same-sex-marriage equality in 2015, the cause also received elevated support from major companies - no doubt fueled by greater public interest in the issue. are among the 161 corporate sponsors - a stark contrast to when the bill was introduced four years ago and the only companies publicly supporting the measure were Apple, The Dow Chemical Co. This month, Congress passed the LGBTQ Equality Act, which will give civil rights protections to such individuals if the measure is later approved by the Senate.
One of the key drivers of consumer loyalty is when a business demonstrates support for pro- LGBTQ anti-discrimination policies, Nelson added. Adidas and Jeremy Scott Revive Their Iconic JS Wings Sneakers in Two Versatile Colorways