PLEDGE UPDATE:
Through this pledge, as leaders, we are committing to listen, to learn and to lead.
- Improve practices for recruiting, hiring and advancing employees of color in our company
- Encourage diversity and partnerships in our business relationships, and encourage our partners and vendors to embrace diversity in the workforce
- Donate funds to support organizations addressing racial injustice and advancing equity
- Vote, and encourage our employees to vote
- Actively work with and support minority-owned businesses in our community
- Join and partner with community-based organizations advancing racial equity
In the coming weeks, our partners at B:CIVIC, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Denver Partnership and Inclusive Economy will be sharing resources to help you develop and achieve your goals.
As you deepen your commitment to this work, we encourage you to LISTEN first to the needs of your employees and stakeholders. Many companies are pausing to ask their employees for feedback to guide them, from small group conversations with leaders to company-wide pulse surveys. Here are two samples of employee surveys for your organizations to consider.
Following are a few upcoming opportunities to advance your LEARNING as an organization and a leader:
September 3, Virtual Annual Meeting hosted by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. This event will feature the launch of the Prosper Colorado initiative, which is focused on removing the barriers to opportunity in our region, as well as a panel of business executives leading equity initiatives through their companies (VF Corp, Sistahbiz Global Network, and Guild Education): Free to Members and just $25 to non-members. Register here.
October 22nd, Virtual B:CIVIC Summit. In addition to two national keynotes and a full day of social impact content on community investment, marketing and measurement strategies, the event will feature three workshops on diversity, equity and inclusion practices from model companies including Janus Henderson, PWC and Southwest Airlines. You can learn more here.
Recently, B:CIVIC hosted an event on Employee Engagement with the Denver Metro Chamber. The discussion features Vail Resorts and Empower Retirement sharing their strategies for advancing inclusion and employee engagement efforts. You can view the recording here.
To support the development of your commitments to LEAD, B:CIVIC and the team at Inclusive Economy will be sharing a detailed toolkit to guide the development of your workforce, employee engagement and supply chain goals starting in mid-September. For now, you can access a list of local DEI consultants and educational resources aggregated by B:CIVIC here.
Over the coming months, we’ll touch base with the company contacts you have provided to see if we can further support your planning and share tips and insights from peers to inspire your work. If you have a successful DEI initiative, program or piloted activity your company has recently implemented, large or small, we would love to hear from you. Reach out and we’ll share your good work with this community!
In late January, we will connect with a request for the details of your commitments to listen, learn and lead. B:CIVIC will elevate the collective commitments-to-action, in an effort to inspire other Colorado companies. You can view an FAQ on the process here. Our goal is to celebrate our progress and highlight a few best-in-class stories. We understand companies may not be able to pledge to take all the action steps outlined and execution of the pledge will vary by company. We encourage you to commit to as many of the actions, as feasible, and a minimum of one action per category (listening, learning and leading) that aligns with your company’s goals and progress-to-date on this journey.
Thank you for your leadership,
B:CIVIC Team and partners
