The Covid-19 pandemic and our long overdue national reckoning on racial injustice have thrust into sharp relief the results of centuries of economic inequality and systemic racism. While the pandemic and its accompanying economic devastation have hurt so many, people of color and low-income communities have been hit exceptionally hard. More than 100 million people in America—half of all people of color and one-quarter of all White people—struggled to make ends meet even before the pandemic and they continue to bear the heaviest toll, even as the economy bounces back.

For corporate leaders, this historic moment presents an opportunity to make lasting progress against stated commitments on racial equity and ensure the billions of dollars pledged to communities of color actually lead to equitable outcomes. 

Our 2021 CEO Blueprint for Racial Equity (download here) will guide you beyond diversity and inclusion commitments to the heart of the business opportunity ahead: addressing the intended and unintended impacts of your products, services, operations, policies, and practices on people of color and low-income communities, with key recommendations across the three domains of corporate influence:

Within the Company

• Embedding accountability within corporate governance and leadership performance 
• Designing HR policies and practices that are actively antiracist
• Expanding worker power and voice 
• Designing products and services that center racially equitable outcomes 
• Designing operations and supply chains to center racial equity 

Within the Community

• Authentically building trust and relationships 
• Redesigning corporate philanthropy to address structural problems 
• Advocating for local policies that address structural inequities
• Supporting environmental justice 

Within Society

• Taking on national-level public policy, lobbying, and advocacy to advance racial equity 
• Making investments to promote equity 
• Transforming communications to drive racial equity

Our 2021 Blueprint for Corporate Racial Equity also answers the number one question we hear from corporate leaders every day — “What is everyone else doing?” — with profiles of companies and business leaders making progress within their four walls, within the communities in which they operate, and at the societal level. 

Read more about the essential components of embedding racial equity within the DNA of the business.

Delve deeper into the companies profiled in the Blueprint:

• Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield’s Campaign to End Qualified Immunity
• Procter & Gamble On Widening the Screen to Disrupt Racial Bias
• PayPal on Employee Well-Being & the Worker Financial Wellness Initiative
• Prudential Newark, New Jersey Community Involvement
• Responsible Business Initiative for Justice and Strategies for Businesses to Support Criminal Justice Reform
• Rhino Foods on Providing Employer-Sponsored Small Dollar Loans