5 Things / Alignment
This week, in Florida, the legislature passed a “Don’t Say Gay” bill that prohibits discussing anything LGBTQ+ in schools (among other mean-spirited things). Governor DeSantis is expected to sign it into law. As a lesbian, I’m horrified by this and the message it sends young LGBTQ+ people. As a DEI professional, I’m outraged that major Florida-based companies stood by passively. And in some cases (ahem, Disney), donated funds to Florida legislators who supported the bill.
LGBTQ+ employees at Disney are now expressing their own outrage, especially after CEO Bob Chapk explained that Disney promoted inclusion in other ways, through their programming. Employees argue that LGBTQ+ representation is frequently diluted from that as well.
Long story short: Disney is out of alignment…its 100% score on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index doesn’t align with the actions and words of its leaders. And employees are noticing. I guarantee they’ll notice at your organization as well, even if the misalignment isn’t as egregious. Sometimes a misalignment can occur when a microaggression is ignored. Or when an employee from an underrepresented group is consistently overlooked by a manager.
The obvious lesson here is that you’ve got to walk the talk…and employees are paying attention.
Here are the good vibes…
More on walking the talk…UK-based companies who tweeted celebrations of International Women’s Day may have been surprised when the Pay Gap Bot tweeted their gender pay gap. The UK is one of a handful of countries that requires companies to report their pay gap. This fun bot matters because it brings awareness to a huge global lack of equality (and also spotlights some hypocrisy).
In Colombia, the Constitutional Court approved a third gender identity marker, making it the first Latin American country to do so. This matters because there are more than two genders and the forced binary has meant that lots of transgender and non-binary people have been excluded from living as their authentic selves.
I don't typically write about environmental commitments, but this one is so cool! Shopify has committed to powering all of its employees’ home offices using wind energy. All employees work remotely. This matters because climate change is real and companies are huge contributors to it.
United Airlines has a great plan to diversify its pilots. 80% of the first class of its brand new flight school are women and BIPOC. The company pays for the initial certification, provides scholarships and access to loans, and guarantees a job upon graduation. This matters because it shows intentional commitment to increasing diversity, with a tangible plan on how to do so.
As Russia continues to wage war against Ukraine, more and more companies are cutting ties to the country in an effort to put pressure on Putin to back down. Here’s an ongoing list of companies pulling out of Russia.