The Global Top 20 Companies and Black Lives Matter

by · Published · Updated

July 7th, 2020

Recent graduate, Kora Abraham, did the following research for Future Think into  how the global top 20 companies are responding to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Top 20 global companies with a UK presence based on market capitalisation.

Sources:

  1. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/audit-services/publications/assets/global-top-100-companies-2020.pdf

2. Companies’ websites

  1. Microsoft – https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/06/23/addressing-racial-injustice/
  • Increasing our representation and culture of inclusion. We will build on our diversity and inclusion (D&I) momentum from the past five years by adding an additional $150M of D&I investment, and will double the number of Black and African American people managers, senior individual contributors, and senior leaders in the United States by 2025.
  • Engaging our ecosystem. We will use our balance sheet and engagement with suppliers and partners to extend the vision for societal change throughout our ecosystem, creating new opportunities for them and the communities they serve.
  • Strengthening our communities. We will use the power of data, technology, and partnership to help improve the lives of Black and African American citizens across our country, including to address the safety and well-being of our own employees in the communities in which they live.
  1. Apple – https://www.apple.com/speaking-up-on-racism/
  • Chief executive Tim Cook (pictured) announced that the technology giant is committing $100 million to a new Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to be led by executive Lisa Jackson
  1. Amazon – https://blog.aboutamazon.com/policy/amazon-donates-10-million-to-organizations-supporting-justice-and-equity

As part of that effort, Amazon will donate a total of $10 million to organizations that are working to bring about social justice and improve the lives of Black and African Americans. Recipients—selected with the help of Amazon’s Black Employee Network (BEN)—include groups focused on combating systemic racism through the legal system as well as those dedicated to expanding educational and economic opportunities for Black communities.

  • ACLU Foundation
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Brennan Centre for Justice
  • Equal Justice Initiative
  • Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
  • NAACP
  • National Bar Association
  • National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • National Urban League
  • Thurgood Marshall College Fund
  • UNCF (United Negro College Fund)
  • Year Up
  1. Alphabet – https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/12/george-floyd-protests-tech-company-responses.html

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Google will give $12 million in funding to organizations working to address racial inequities. It also is providing $25 million in ad grants to organizations fighting racial injustice. The company is also matching employee donations, which contributed an additional $2.5 million. Sister company YouTube committed $1 million for the Centre for Policing Equity.

  1. Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/business/news/where-facebook-stands-racial-equality-justice
  • We are listening to and learning from our employees, communities and small businesses to understand what they need now and what they will need down the road. That’s why we’re investing over $1 billion to support Black and diverse suppliers and communities in the United States.
  • Of the $100 million grant program we created for small businesses, we pledged $40M in the US alone – 50% of which will go to underrepresented minority and women-owned businesses due to the disproportionate negative impact that COVID-19 has on these businesses, their employees and the communities they serve.
  • We are committing an additional $200 million to support Black-owned businesses and organizations. We are investing $100 million this year in Black-owned small businesses, Black creators, and non-profits that serve the Black community in the US. And starting next year, we will spend at least $100 million annually with Black-owned suppliers, from facilities to construction to marketing agencies and more.
  • Based on employee suggestions, we are launching a new destination — Lift Black Voices — a space for amplifying Black voices, and sharing educational resources, storytelling experiences and inspiring action through fundraising for the advancement of racial justice.
  • Since 2014, we have published our Diversity Report. We have already committed to have 50% of our workforce be from underrepresented communities by the end of 2023 and are working to double our number of Black and Latinx employees in the same timeframe.
  • Over the next five years, we are committing to increase the representation of people of colour in leadership positions by 30% including increasing the representation of Black leaders by 30%
  1. Tencent – no support for the movement
  2. Berkshire Hathaway – no support for the movement
  3. Visa – https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog/bdp/2020/06/03/action-dialogue-and-1591203819613.html
  • Visa will establish a $10 million fund to create a dedicated Visa scholarship assistance program over the next five years, specifically for college-bound Black and African American students. Upon graduation, all recipients who have met their commitments will be guaranteed a full-time job with Visa. This is an important step in making a long-term investment in Black and African American students and increasing Black and African American representation at Visa.
  • double matched Visa employee donations during the month of June, up to $1 million, to key organizations that support racial justice and equality
  • Visa is offering external support for the black community through 24/7 counselling and referral services through our Employee Assistance Program.
  1. Nestle – no support
  2. J.P. Morgan –
  • Building on programs like Advancing Black Pathways
  1. P&G – donating 5 million to organisations that help fighting injustice, advance economic opportunity and greater access to healthcare and education making communities more equitable.
  • P&G “Take on Race” fund will support the larger organisations such as NAACP legal defence fund.
  • Have re-aired their award-winning short films/adverts: The Look and The Talk and Circumstances to inspire important conversations in non POC households.
  1. Mastercard – https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/vision/who-we-are/we-stand-against-racism.html
  • We have worked with the National Urban League for over a decade and are making a new $5 million donation to support their mission of enabling African Americans and other underserved communities to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights. And, to make it simpler for others to donate as well, the Urban League is now live on our new donation platform.
  • ​Inclusion of all people has been a long-standing focus of ours and the partnerships we have developed. Through the Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth and other initiatives, we have accelerated our efforts to fund research, help shape policy recommendations, lend data science to help rebuild distressed communities and support minority entrepreneurs
  • creating safe spaces for you to speak up and speak out. We know that many of you are hurting, many of you are tired and many have a strong desire to act and support your fellow colleagues. We have had many conversations with our LEAD (Leading Employees of African Descent) Business Resource Group over the past few days, and they have told us so.
  1. Samsung – no support
  2. Intel –
  • CEO Bob Swan said the chipmaker is pledging $1 million “in support of efforts to address social injustice and anti-racism across various non-profits and community organizations.”
  1. Toyota – just a statement
  2. Coca-Cola – https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/where-we-stand-on-social-justice
  • We will invest our resources to advance social justice causes. We will use the voices of our brands to weigh in on important social conversations. For example, today we are announcing $2.5 million in grants from The Coca-Cola Foundation for the Equal Justice Initiative to assist advocates and policymakers in the critically important work of criminal justice reform; the NAACP Legal Defence Fund in support of the “Policing Reform Campaign;” and the National Centre for Civil and Human Rights to deliver a platform to bring people together for powerful conversations that matter and inspire social change and their current “Campaign for Equal Dignity.” In addition, we will match employee donations to these initiatives, as well as contributions to the 100 Black Men of America and the National CARES Mentoring Movement. Starting with me.
  1. Walt Disney – https://fortune.com/2020/06/04/disney-pledge-social-justice-organizations-george-floyd/
  • Disney made a $5 million pledge to non-profit social justice organizations. Civil rights organization the NAACP will receive $2 million of the total pledge.
  • They also released a short video supporting the movement.
  1. PepsiCo – https://fortune.com/2020/06/16/pepsi-ceo-ramon-laguarta-black-lives-matter-diversity-and-inclusion-systemic-racism-in-business/
  • the next step in PepsiCo’s journey for racial equality: a more than $400 million set of initiatives over five years to lift up Black communities and increase Black representation at PepsiCo.
  • Expanding our Black managerial population by 30% by 2025 through internal development and recruitment—we will add more than 250 Black associates to managerial roles by 2025, including adding a minimum of 100 Black associates to our executive ranks. While 14% of our U.S. workforce is Black, we know we need to increase representation in leadership.
  • Accelerating our recruitment efforts with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and increasing partnerships with diverse organizations at our core schools.
  • Establishing scholarship support for students transitioning from two-year to four-year programs and scaling our existing efforts to support trade/certificate and academic two-year degrees education through community colleges for 400 Black students per year—these funds will also provide wraparound support, including money for books, transportation, housing, and more.
  • Activating associates to help drive ongoing change in our organization, with a focus on internal mentoring, coaching, and continuous development—we know that many of you want to get involved, and we will need your support to see our journey through.
  • Mandating companywide unconscious-bias training, followed by continued training aimed at reducing biases in the workplace; including PDR objectives on representation; and requiring diversity on executive candidate slates—we’ll also expand our programs dedicated to supporting Black talent throughout critical career stages.
  • When it comes to business, we will leverage our scale and influence across our suppliers, marketing agency partners, and customer base to increase representation and strengthen Black-owned businesses. That means step changes in our spending and approach to partnerships, starting by:
  • More than doubling our spending with Black-owned suppliers, expanding the supplier pipeline through advocacy and outreach, and building supplier capability targeting growth across services, agriculture, sustainable packaging, and operations.
  • Using our buying power to create more jobs for Black creators at our marketing agencies and making them part of our content development—we will implement a Creative Agency Diversity Policy modelled on our existing policy for the selection of legal services, including an annual audit.
  • Investing $50 million over five years to strengthen local Black-owned businesses.
  • When it comes to our communities, we are working to drive long-term change by addressing systemic barriers to economic opportunity, investing an incremental $20 million over five years. That means broadly increasing our efforts to create opportunity and advance economic empowerment for Black Americans, starting by:
  • Accelerating our support for social programs that impact Black communities, including delivering $6.5 million in community impact grants to address systemic issues; investing $1 million to replicate our holistic community support program, Southern Dallas Thrives, in Chicago; expanding our Food for Good initiative providing jobs and access to nutrition to more Black communities; and increasing our contribution to the NAACP Legal Defence Fund to support the struggle for social justice.
  • Supporting Black-owned restaurants as part of our Small Businesses Program, including mentoring, management training, and help obtaining financing.
  • Investing $5 million to launch a Community Leader Fellowship program for Black non-profit CEOs. We will provide grants to participants’ organizations, executive education, and connections to PepsiCo leaders and partners.
  1. Cisco – will donate $5 million to groups including Equal Justice Initiative, Black Lives Matter and “our own fund for Fighting Racism and Discrimination.” Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said in a tweet that “we need ACTION to eradicate racism, inequality, and injustice.
  2. Netflix – https://www.slashfilm.com/netflix-donation-for-black-lives-matter/
  • After creating a collection of Black Lives Matter movies and TV shows to show support and solidarity with the global movement trying to stop police brutality and racial inequality, Netflix is putting their money where their mouth is. The streaming service is pledging $5 million to organizations dedicated to helping Black youth, Black creators, and Black-owned businesses who are not always afforded the same opportunities.
  • $1.5 million will be going to Ghetto Film School, Black Public Media, Firelight Media and Film Independent’s Project Evolve. To support Black youth, Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, the Posse Foundation, and Black Girls Code will each be given $1 million grants.
  • Finally, to help Black-owned businesses, Netflix is giving $500,000 in grants to be distributed by Vermont Slauson Economic Development (VSEDC), a non-profit group that provides resources to communities in South Los Angeles traditionally underserved by banks. On top of this massive donation, Netflix is also matching their employees’ personal donations at 200%.