Inclusion champions join forces to combat adverse COVID19 impact

Ten leading non-profit organisations have joined forces to champion inclusion and combat the adverse impacts of COVID-19.

Their aim is to redouble efforts to promote inclusion and collaborate to address the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed a disproportionate number of lives in minority communities and has given rise to a surge in Anti-Asian sentiment.

Ascend, a non-profit Pan-Asian membership organisation for business professionals and executives in North America, launched the consortium, with ALPFA, Catalyst, The Conference Board, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), National Organization on Disability (NOD), Out & Equal and Tanenbaum. Collectively, the 10 organisations are leading conveners for business leaders in championship for diverse communities. including Pan-Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, women, LGBTQ+, Native Americans, people with disabilities and employees of all and no faiths. Over 90 global companies have also joined the cause.

COMBATTING STIGMA & BIAS

All 10 organisations advocate for members of underserved communities that are particularly vulnerable to public health crises and economic downturns. “Together, we pledge to combat stigma, biases associating Pan-Asians with the novel coronavirus, and all forms of discrimination based on age, colour, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation and veteran status,” said the consortium in a statement. 

“Each of our organisations has delivered COVID-19 programming including educational webinars and Executive Town Halls, ERG support programmes, engaged in fundraising efforts to support front-line workers and procuring PPEs, and published resource guides to assist diverse groups. Additionally, we are working with key CEO driven coalitions such as CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion to advance awareness and education of virus-linked bias at the highest levels of the business community,” it added.

CONSORTIUM AGENDA

The consortium along with partner organisations have pledged to commit to a 5-Point Action Agenda:

• Promote Inclusion: Advocate for a diverse and inclusive workplace and society. 
• Raise Awareness: Highlight the unique impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups. 
• Denounce Bias: Encourage individuals to report virus-linked discriminatory acts against Pan-Asians and other targeted groups and communities in the workplace and in public. 
• Support Communities: Contribute time, knowledge and/or other resources to aid frontline workers, COVID-19 victims and families. 
• Give Donations: Provide funds and/or other resources to support vulnerable populations of people and impacted businesses.

“We applaud the 100+ companies and organisations collaborating with us to drive actions that safeguard protections for diverse groups and underrepresented employee segments,” said Anna Mok, President of Ascend. “This commitment reinforces the importance of our 5-Point Action Agenda. We call on additional companies and organisations to join this consortium and help us accelerate progress together.”

SUPPORTING COMPANIES

To date, over 90 companies from all sectors have joined the coalition to support their agenda, including Accenture, Adobe, AlixPartners, Amazon, American Airlines, American Express, AT&T, Aviation Capital Group, Bank of America, Bayer, BBVA, BDO USA, LLP, BNY Mellon, Boeing, Capgemini, Campbell Soup Company, Capital Group, Capital One, The Carlyle Group, Cisco, The Coca-Cola Company, CohnReznick, Cox Enterprises, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank USA Corp, DLA Piper, DSM, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), East West Bank, Edward Jones, Equilar, ExecComm LLC, Expedia Group, Experian, E4H Environments for Health Architecture, EY, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Google, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Intel, Interpublic Group, JP Morgan Chase, KPMG, Legg Mason, Lockheed Martin Corporation, L’Oréal, Loblaw Companies Ltd., Lululemon, Manulife & John Hancock, Marriott International, Inc., MassMutual, McCormick & Company, Medtronic, Mercedes-Benz USA,  Merck, MetLife, Micro Focus, Misumi USA, Morgan Stanley, NBA, Novartis, Palo Alto Networks, Panasonic Corporation of North America, PepsiCo, Pfizer, PIMCO, Procter and Gamble, Protiviti, Prudential Financial, PSEG, Publicis Groupe, PwC, RSM US LLC, RBC, Sanofi, Scotiabank, Sodexo, Sun Life, Synchrony, TPG, Uber, UBS, Under Armour, United Airlines, U.S. Bank, U. S. Steel, Walmart, Wells Fargo and WNBA.

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