CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ Unveils Three Key Actions to Tackle Unconscious Bias, Build Inclusion and Broaden Impact Beyond the Business Community

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion^™, the largest CEO-driven coalition to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace, announced three key actions at its second annual CEO Closed-Door Session. These actions support the coalition's foundational commitments to broaden awareness of unconscious bias and encourage difficult conversations about diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

"The bold actions announced today will help leaders draw on our collective power to drive change," said Tim Ryan, US Chairman and Senior Partner of PwC and chair of the CEO Action steering committee. "Together, we have made unprecedented progress, but we must continue to challenge ourselves in new ways to foster more open, inclusive and diverse workplaces and communities."

The three actions announced today include:

• Launching the new "Check Your Blind Spots" unconscious bias mobile tour with experiential elements and online resources to give people the opportunity to learn about and explore ways to mitigate unconscious bias in their everyday lives. The tour will make 100 stops across the country and engage one million people.
• Initiating the "I Act On" pledge, in conjunction with the unconscious bias mobile tour, individuals can commit to action through a personal pledge to mitigate any personal unconscious biases, and act on driving more inclusive behaviors in their everyday lives. Individuals can also take the pledge via ceoaction.com/pledge.
• Hosting a "Day of Understanding", the largest conversation about diversity and inclusion in the business community and beyond. More than 150 signatories will come together to take bold action and host a day of candid conversations within each of their respective companies surrounding race, gender and age in order to further embrace differences in our organizations.

In addition to discussing the new actions, CEOs and presidents will collaborate during working sessions and hear from employees about their real-life experiences at signatory companies. Speakers Earvin 'Magic' Johnson and Van Jones will also offer their perspectives on key diversity and inclusion topics.

The coalition will also release "Beyond the Bottom Line", a five-part landmark series featuring conversations between CEOs and their employees, unpacking diversity and inclusion issues confronting the workplace today hosted on the Huffington Post's Purpose + Profit platform, and sponsored by PwC.

"The collaborative sessions, direct CEO-to-CEO engagement and the new actions announced today are tangible examples of how CEO Action realizes the significant role individual CEOs can play in continuing to advance diversity and inclusion," said David Taylor, Chairman, President and CEO of The Procter & Gamble Company. "As leaders in our industries, organizations and communities, creating positive change and making an impact is our responsibility."

With research showing that 78 percent of Americans want companies to address important social justice issues, the actions outlined at the second annual Closed-Door Session will help the coalition's more than 500 signatories, representing 85 industries and 12 million employees, glean ideas and opportunities to drive additional progress within their companies and organizations around diversity and inclusion.

For more information on the actions announced today and the CEO Closed-Door Session, visit ceoaction.com.

Companies represented at the closed-door discussion include: A.T. Kearney, Achieve3000, ACT, Adtalem Global Education, Advancing Minorities' Interest in Engineering, AllianceBernstein, American Heart Association, AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies, Ascena Retail Group, Ashley Stewart, Asian American Business Development Center, Bashen Corporation, Bowie State University, Brighton Agency, Career Communications Group, Inc., Catalyst, CECP, Center for Audit Quality, Century Snacks, Chicago United, Children's Minnesota, Con Edison Inc. / Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc.,Council of Chief State School Officers, Denny's, Inc., Discovery Education, DNA, Edelman, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Equilar, Erie Insurance, Express Scripts, EY, Facing History and Ourselves, Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, Feeding America, FirstEnergy, Fisher Phillips, Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, Horace Mann Educators Corporation, Horizon Pharma, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Information Technology Senior Management Forum, Ingredion, INROADS, Inc., Institute for Corporate Productivity, J.M. Huber Corporation, K12 Inc., Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, King's College, Legg Mason Global Asset Management, Lehigh University, Marcum LLP, Masco Corporation, McKinsey & Company, Moody's Corporation, Movado Group, Inc., National Down Syndrome Society, National HBCU Business Deans Roundtable, National Organization on Disability, Nixon Peabody LLP, Novant Health, OhioHealth, One To World, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, Per Scholas, Inc., Porter Novelli, PSEG, PwC, Randstad North America, RRD, Savills Studley, Sodexo, Solar Energy Industries Association, Springboard Consulting LLC, Stetson University, SunTrust Banks Inc., Swiss Re Americas, Tanenbaum, Tapestry, TEKsystems, The Boston Consulting Group, The Bozzuto Group, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, The Executive Leadership Council, The Hartford, The New York Times Company, The Procter & Gamble Company, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Tillamook County Creamery Association, United States Steel Corporation, United Way Worldwide, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., WayUp, WP Engine, Worldpay.

CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ steering committee quotes:

Accenture North America CEO Julie Sweet: "Workplace equality needs to be treated like a business strategy.  That means establishing a vision, goals, accountability, measurement and an action plan as well as ensuring transparency across the organization."

The Boston Consulting Group's Regional Chairman of North America Joe Davis: "Convening today, leader to leader, is critical to helping us stay accountable to our diversity and inclusions commitments and most importantly our people. We have to keep challenging our thinking, taking bold action and really listening to our employees to thrive as a business and employer, delivering value to our clients and the marketplace."

Deloitte US CEO Cathy Engelbert: "It is important that we continue to raise the bar on the awareness of issues influencing diversity and inclusion and empower courageous conversations in the workplace. As leaders, we have a responsibility to keep an open dialogue, educate, and train our people in ways that promote true inclusivity, including awareness of unconscious bias. The actions announced today will help equip us as evolving leaders to do just that. I believe the power of our collective efforts can serve as a catalyst for strengthening inclusion across our nation."

KPMG US Chairman and CEO Lynne Doughtie: "The leaders gathered here today have a shared belief that diversity and inclusion will make us better— better employers, colleagues and neighbors. The actions announced today show just how serious we are about leading change, taking action and making an impact for a better tomorrow."

The Executive Leadership Council President and CEO Skip Spriggs:  "CEO Action leaders know the value, the need and the power of inclusive leadership. The actions announced today will lead to more open and candid conversations about race in the workplace, unconscious bias education and training, and an elevated level of employee engagement on race and other key diversity and inclusion issues that are important to employees and communities across industries, sectors and geographies."

EY US Chairman and Managing Partner and Americas Managing Partner, Kelly Grier: "Building an environment that celebrates and includes differences is essential to developing the transformative leaders we need in today's complex business environment. It takes bold action to make an impact, and today's announcements show how passionate CEO Action leaders are about driving cultural change."

General Atlantic CEO, Bill Ford: "Collaboration is critical to CEO Action's efforts. We are taking the next step in bringing our commitments to life and drawing upon the collective power of collaboration between CEOs, workers and our diverse communities to bring about change."

New York Life Chairman and CEO Ted Mathas: "As leaders we have the opportunity to create environments where all perspectives are encouraged and valued, and where colleagues feel comfortable to share their experiences in support of a more inclusive workforce.  The actions announced today spotlight how our collective actions can help achieve meaningful progress in advancing diversity and inclusion in the business community."

About CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™
CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace. Bringing together more than 500 CEOs and presidents of America's leading businesses, academic institutions and nonprofits representing 12 million employees, the commitment outlines actions that participating organizations pledge to take to cultivate a workplace where diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and respected, employees feel comfortable and encouraged to discuss diversity and inclusion, and where successful and well-known—and unsuccessful—actions can be shared across organizations. Learn more at CEOAction.com and connect with us on Twitter: @CEOAction and Instagram: @CEO_Action.

Contact: Idalia.Hill@pwc.com

SOURCE CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion