The second event in our 3-part DEI workshop series is coming up next week – on Wednesday, May 4th at 2pm Eastern. This 90-minute session is on the topic of “Understanding and Using Equity Audits and Civil Rights Audits.” Every person who is doing DEI and ESG work, tasked with managing stakeholder outcomes, or advising boards on shareholder initiatives that could affect the proxy statement and director support, needs to understand this emerging practice. Here are several recent signs that point to audits becoming mainstream:
- Earlier this month, the SEC denied McDonald’s no-action request to exclude from the company’s proxy statement a shareholder proposal to conduct a civil rights audit. Shareholders of the iconic fast food chain will likely vote on the proposal in late May.
- In March, Apple’s shareholders approved a proposal requesting a third-party civil rights audit. It was the first shareholder proposal that has passed at that company since majority voting in director elections was approved a decade ago. Majority voting went on to become the norm at most companies.
- Shareholders have been pushing for racial equity audits at a growing number of high-profile companies – including Amazon (where there is also a “vote no” initiative against company directors for the related issues of human capital and health & safety), Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Chipotle, Costco, Tyson Foods, Pfizer, Alphabet, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola and more.
- Citigroup, JPMorgan and other big banks have agreed to conduct third-party racial equity audits after receiving shareholder proposals on the topic.
- In March, shareholders at The Walt Disney Co. approved a proposal for “pay gap” disclosure.
- Two-thirds of organizations in a recent Payscale survey said they were planning to conduct a pay equity analysis.
- Companies that have conducted audits have continued to use the results – Airbnb, for example, is continuing to update tools & policies to fight discrimination on the platform.
Not only will this FREE workshop deliver info to help you understand what civil rights audits, racial equity audits, and pay equity audits are intended to accomplish – you will be hearing from the top leaders in this space. In a “fireside chat” format, you’ll hear from:
- Eric Holder – Senior Counsel at Covington, advising on civil rights audits and complex investigations, and 82nd US Attorney General – the third longest-serving Attorney General in U.S. history and the first African American to hold that office
- Laura Murphy – President of Laura Murphy & Associates, civil rights leader, and pioneer of civil rights audits with work at Airbnb and Facebook
Eric and Laura are not only civil rights trailblazers, they worked together on Airbnb’s audit and will have a lot to talk about. Then, stay for our informative panel discussion, featuring:
- Megan Cacace – Director of Anti-Discrimination & Equity Programs at Airbnb, which in 2016 was the first company to conduct a civil rights audit
- Aaron Lewis – Partner at Covington, leading clients through the process of conducting civil rights audits
- Tejal Patel – Corporate Governance Director at SEIU Affiliates’ Supplemental Savings Plan/SOC Investment Group – which is the proponent behind the McDonald’s proposal and successful racial equity audit initiatives at several big banks and other companies
The accomplished Ruth Umoh will moderate these discussions. Ruth is currently an Editor at Fortune and a former Editor of Forbes, CNBC Reporter, and Producer for Rolling Stone Magazine.
This event could not be more valuable! Join us on May 4th at 11am PT/2pm ET to hear lessons learned, what to be thinking about to prepare, who is involved in these audits, and more. This is the second session in a series that attendees have already rated as an incredibly useful DEI workshop experience. Register here to secure your spot!
If you can’t make the live session, a replay will be available for members of PracticalESG.com. Here’s the replay of the first session, “Collecting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Data: What to Measure & Why.” That event featured DiversityIQ’s Cheryl Cole, Fossil Group’s Sheri Crosby Wheeler, Aon’s Aria Glasgow, Pipeline Equity’s Katica Roy, Fortune’s Ruth Umoh, and yours truly – and was full of practical guidance.
