Name: Impact Initiative 2023: Inclusivity That Meets the Moment
Uploaded: 2023-09-13
Duration: 18 min 43 s
Description: Michelle Gethers, Chief Diversity Officer and Head, Corporate Responsibility, Inclusive Impact, and Sustainability, Visa Alethia Jackson, Senior Vice President, ESG, and Chief DEI Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance Brian Tippens, Senior Vice President and Chief Social Impact Officer, Cisco Moderator: Holly Ojalvo, Managing Editor, FORTUNE; Co-chair, Fortune Impact Initiative

Michelle Gethers, Chief Diversity Officer and Head, Corporate Responsibility, Inclusive Impact, and Sustainability, Visa Alethia Jackson, Senior Vice President, ESG, and Chief DEI Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance Brian Tippens, Senior Vice President and Chief Social Impact Officer, Cisco Moderator: Holly Ojalvo, Managing Editor, FORTUNE; Co-chair, Fortune Impact Initiative

Impact Initiative 2023: Inclusivity That Meets the Moment

Conferences

Michelle Gethers Corporate Responsibility, Inclusive Impact, and Sustainability, Visa Alethia Jackson, Walgreens Boots Alliance Brian Tippens, Cisco, Holly Ojalvo, FORTUNE

OK. And then uh we're getting ready for our next panel and I should introduce this by saying the following last year brought economic uncertainty. We all know that a mass layoffs for many organizations, data from REO labs found that more than 300 diversity equity and inclusion employees were laid off from major organizations de I officers that is a much higher attrition rates than any other job function. I think that's quite a shocking revelation in this next conversation, we'll hear from business leaders on how they are trying to remain committed to inclusivity amid these headwinds and amid of course, also a public outcry in certain circles against diversity efforts. Please welcome Michelle Getters, Chief Diversity Officer and head of corporate responsibility inclusive impact at Visa. Alicia Jackson, senior Vice president of ESG and Chief Diversity Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance and Brian Tippetts, senior vice president and Chief Social Impact Officer at CISCO. They will be interviewed by Fortune's Deputy editorial director for live media, Ellie Austin. Thank you. Hello, everyone. Thank you, Peter and welcome Michelle Alicia and Brian. We're so thrilled to have you with us, Michelle. I want to start with you So last year, Visa opened a big new office in Atlanta. And at the same time, the company committed to creating 1000 new jobs to start the office by 2025. Now, companies like Coca Cola CNN, Home Depot, they have HQS in Atlanta. And despite this, the city has the widest income inequality based on race in the whole of the US. And so to kick us off, my question is, is there a way for visa to ensure that its presence in the city has a meaningful trickle down effect so that it really positively impacts the day to day of minority communities? Yes. So thank you for the question. And we are very excited to be in Atlanta and we came here for three reasons because there's great talent here that is diverse. Our customers and clients are here and we believe in being part of community. And so the one of the first things we did to show the trickle down impact is we went to high school, which is one of the local high schools with a large percentage of Children in poverty. And we went to be part of financial education and we had the mayor there and many other city officials to say we have to invest at root causes and not just put band aids on and some of the root causes of poverty are education, their disparities in health, et cetera. So we're trying to be part of the ecosystem and not just an employer of choice, Alicia, I want to throw it back to Peter's introduction. He mentioned that we're seeing attrition um when it comes to de I roles at a higher rate than almost every other job function. And there's been a lot of different reasons thrown out and speculation as to why this might be. What's your perspective on this, concerning trend? For sure why? I mean, I'm definitely not in a position to speculate on the, the attrition. You're seeing, what I can speak about is our long history of having ad I officer. So for Walgreens and Walgreens Alliance, um we've had a diversity equity inclusion officer for over a decade. Um It's something that is just embedded in our business practice and what we do, we like to say that uh D I is in our DN DNA based on the customers and patients we serve and where we sit in communities across the country and, and Brian, I know you bring a bit more of an external perspective um to this discussion. Do you think this decline that we're seeing in the DN I function? Is it, is it terminal? Is there a way to turn the ship around? Yeah, I think it's about having embedded systems. And so we at Cisco have long had a commitment to diversity equity inclusion within the four walls of the company. We've long had diversity leaders. We've got our Chief Diversity Officer here today. Gloria, who's, who's joining for the couple of days, we in 2020 in the wake of racial reckoning of 2020 asked ourselves what we could do more to focus externally in communities and formulated a social justice office with 12 primary pillars, some internally facing, but a lot externally facing on increasing our number of African American owned partners and suppliers in our supply base and focusing on hbcus and the importance of that program was making it sustainable, making it sticky coming for the metrics that get reported to the board on a quarterly basis, creating those systems that are pervasive so that you don't see retraction when things get kind of bad externally, you mentioned metrics and that's a really interesting point. And Michelle and Alicia, I'd like to ask you, are there any metrics that you found to be particularly efficient? You depend on more than others when it comes to reporting your diversity and inclusion, Michelle, let let's start with you, you know what gets measured gets done. So it's really important to look at the key results, but it's also important to look at the indicators. So we do care about our representation rate of our Black Latinx mixed race, indigenous at the vice president level at the leader level as well as overall. But we also care about how we representing women because this intersectionality, how do we think about women at leadership levels? How do we think about women overall and then what are the leading indicators, the pipeline, who's interviewing, who and then who's getting promoted? So we look at several different um metrics and no single one Alicia. Have you got anything to add? Sure. Um Just uh similarly, we look at again, what is our leadership um level? And so we look at women, people of color, we overall, we look at uh representation for people with disabilities across our company and really try to ensure again that our workforce is reflective of the, you know, the communities we serve across the country and we measure and we report out. Um and so in our ESG report, we, you know, use very stringent standards about being able to quantify um our progress and um in our measures and you talked just then about leadership. Last month, it was announced that Ros Brewer is stepping down as CEO of Walgreens. Um that news was met with a lot of surprise, but also a degree of concern. I guess that one of only two female black CEO S in the Fortune 500 is, is stepping away on what this might mean for women and minorities more generally at the top level of corporate America. And I, I wonder um how are you talking to employees about Rose Brewer leaving? And also what are you doing to retain workers during this potential time of flux for the company? Sure. Well, first again, I'd like to thank Ros Brewer for her leadership and mentorship um during her tenure as the CEO of WB A and um and we, as our board has announced, we are searching for a new CEO and we'll look for diverse candidates as we always do um in consideration of the sort of candidate slate with respect to what are we doing for our team members. One of the great things and the things we're so proud of is that we have been working very hard for years to create a culture of inclusion. We have a strong business resource groups. And so those are uh you know, really looking to provide that space um where people feel included, where people's voices are heard. And so we have open conversations and we with authenticity as we look at our overall corporate values and wrap around our team members, not just now, but always. And so having already done the work of creating that culture, um it's helpful when you have challenging times. So it's a multi pronged approach really. Um I want to talk a bit about the rollback of affirmative action and its possible implications on the corporate world. One possibility that we are going to potentially see more of is lawsuits when it comes to DN initiatives. We've already seen a couple and I wonder how Brian, if let's put this question to you. Um First of all, what do you think companies could or should be doing to prepare for that possibility and is it going to make organizations less risk averse when it comes to their diversity and inclusion. Thank you for asking me the most controversial question. Can I say first on the issue of metrics? I, I love what Michelle said about what gets measured gets done. I think as we think about our metrics, we have to be thinking about tying our metrics to business value. I've long talked about the three CS of diversity. It's about compliance, meeting compliance requirements everywhere we need to, it's about corporate social responsibility, doing the right thing. But most importantly about competitive advantage, we have to show that diversity, equity inclusion adds to business value, whether it's around eliminating regrettable attrition or making sure that our employees needs are met or making sure we can satisfy our customers in the marketplace. We have to try do tie dollar value to the work that we do in terms of metrics. And then in terms of long term sustainability, I think we just have to be sure we're defensible in what we're doing and all of our programs are not, they're not quotas, they're not set aside. They're about making sure we have a wide table and we're looking at a broad set of candidates and making sure that all voices are heard. I think it will change the way that some people message what they're doing and that's a bad thing. Unfortunately, I think it's important that us companies that are in this and are about purpose, speak loudly about continuing to be about purpose, right? And so it's not about set asides or quotas or affirmative action. Really? It's about setting a wide table again so that all voices are heard. Michelle, I want to come to you on the the affirmative action question. And is the ruling in any way changing the way that you internally are thinking about DN I, the reality is as a purpose driven organization that believes that we do our best work when we are inclusive. And for us inclusion is this idea that we value the unique identity of everyone and their contributions so we can all reach our full potential. And so as we think about it, that way, we are staying the course, we are doing the right things and it is fundamental to our business model. We're a network of networks that exist everywhere and our reality is everyone is a visa card holder. We are in communities around the world. We should represent those communities and we should do it proudly. And we have, I I think Brian put it perfectly as he referred to. Let's not give it the wrong name and sabotage our work instead, let's be proud of this work because it's the right thing to do. And it's fundamental to good business practice and that's how we look at it and that's how we're thinking through and acting internally. It's undoubtedly the right thing to do. I I guess recently it's possibly become a bit more complicated and risky for want of a better word, Alicia. How is WB A thinking about this? Is it a question of taking external counsel? What steps are you taking to shore yourself up essentially against the possibility of legal action? Sure. Well, we continue to really shape all of our programs based on what our business values and business priorities. Um, as Brian says, what really helps us get the be the deepest talent bench, um and be able to serve all of our customers across the country, whether that's in part West Virginia or South side Chicago, where we were formed. And so we continue to look at it from that lens, what aligns to our business priorities and how we best positioned um to be innovative, to provide innovative services and products um that make us more competitive in the marketplace. I want to talk a bit about the growing partisanship that we're seeing across the country really and how that has really turned corporations into political battlegrounds. We only have to think of the bud light situation from earlier this year or target. And I wonder, Brian, I'm interested to hear maybe about a time when you and Cisco potentially or at a previous organization have found yourself in some sort of external cross hat if one springs to mind and, and how you navigate it. No, I I would say these external partnerships are critical because those are the folks that are doing the hard work, right. We invest a lot in equal justice initiative and Southern Poverty Law Center and, and HR C and in the long list that I'm sure a lot of us partner with and those organizations are frequently taking positions that might be viewed as controversial, but we have to be ok with that. Right? I think we have to invest in the companies or the organizations rather that are the feet on the ground that know best how to challenge these issues and be able to stand by our, I guess I'd say that we can't be reactive in these situations. We have to tie back to our corporate principles, our purpose as a company. And as long as we're doing that, we could feel kind of assured in standing our ground. So it's being willing to be controversial if you feel that it's for the right reasons and it aligns with your values, being willing to stand by our purpose, whether it's viewed as controversial or not, right? And sometimes we have to make these decisions that, you know, this is what we stand by, this is our purpose. We're not a waiver from this. And if you don't agree with this, maybe this is not the company for you and that's maybe where Bud Light and target they were different and that they did waiver slightly on, on their, on their decisions, Alicia on this subject earlier this year. Walgreens was criticized by Progressives for announcing that it would not dispense abortion pills in 21 states where Republican A had threatened legal action against pharmacies that did dispense the medication. And, and I wonder how you reflect on that moment now? Sure. So we never wavered on our position that we once certified by the FDA that we would dispense anywhere that any jurisdiction where it was legally permissible. And so we, we did not change that. And that was, I think people got the wrong message around that. But our, our, where we stood on that remained the same and that's where we currently stand. So unfortunately, I think it was a, a very uh confusing issue and it was a very complex issue, right? And so those take more than sound bites to understand. Um and it takes a bit of explanation, but again, where we came out very early saying that we would dispense and we didn't waiver from that. But so you think people misunderstood maybe that, that the headlines or that the media weren't reporting wasn't accurate around it? Can you just elaborate slightly on that? Sure. I will say our position never changed on, on, on the fact that we would dispense in jurisdictions where it was legally permissible. I would love to open this up to questions from the audience. Mr Alan Murray is, is, is a allowed to ask questions. Ok? I want to go back to the numbers that both Peter and Ellie cited because we clearly have three great companies represented here on the stage. We have Visa and Walgreens and Cisco. And we have great companies represented in the room. And I was thinking, listening to you talk, well, maybe we invited the wrong people to the conference, but something is going on out there when you look at those numbers of layoffs of DEI officials and you all three are very well plugged in, you know, the community. Well, what's your sense of what's happening more broadly outside of your company? I would say that in the wake of the racial reckoning of 2020 a lot of companies were very reactive. We've got to do something. We had an old crap moment in corporate America. So companies who tied this to purpose, our purpose at CISCO is to power an inclusive future for all right. So this was part of our DNA. This is not new, this is not being reactive. So that allowed us to stay the course companies that were reactive and said we've got to do something in 2022 years later, three years later says, oh, well, this is not cool anymore. This is not important to our customer base. And the second thing I would say was tying it to business value if a company can do away with the den I officers because it didn't have business value. Well, that's a problem, right? That the situation wasn't set up in such a way that the Den I leader was adding business value through the metrics that I talked about, you know, satisfying our customers or satisfying our team members? Right? Does that make sense? Any other questions from the floor? One question I have for Alicia and Michelle in particular, is that looking at your titles? Um It's clear that there seems to be a bit of a trend which is de I roles attached to other job functions, you both have other job titles attached. Um Other functions. Do you have as much time as you would like in these split roles to dedicate to de I initiative? I don't view my role as actually split. The reality is, is inclusion and diversity. If we stop thinking about it as a head count game is actually in a thread in your business. It exists when I talk to customers and clients, it exists when I think about community and philanthropy, it exists when I think about the environment. So it's not actually separate functions. It's about really understanding corporate responsibility and the value of inclusion and diversity in your business system, especially if you're purpose driven. So the answer is yes, I have plenty of time and I would agree completely. Sometimes people will ask, well, where does B I fit under the ES and the GM I answers, it fits under all of them and it is the running threat. If you're looking at the environment and especially your internal environment as far as your workforce and your team members. If you're looking at social impact, when you think about health equity, which is a big issue for us and something we're trying to tackle and when you think about community and then governance, good governance as well. And so it really does, it is that thread that runs through them all, it doesn't stand in isolation, but in fact, it is something that brings them all together. Michelle Alicia o'brien. Thank you so much. That's all we've got time for. And thank you.