American Express Announces $1 Billion Action Plan to Promote Racial, Ethnic & Gender Equity for Colleagues, Customers & Commu...
October 29 2020 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
- Achieves 100% pay equity for colleagues globally
- Sets goal to double spending with diverse suppliers and expand
access to capital for minority-owned businesses
- Commits to enhancing diverse representation and equal
opportunity at all levels across the company
- Increases funding and resources allocated to community
organizations advancing racial equality and social justice
American Express (NYSE: AXP) today announced its action plan to
advance its diversity, inclusion and equity priorities. The plan
includes a series of internal and external initiatives, commitments
and resources, supported by $1 billion in investments toward
enhancing diverse representation and equal opportunities for its
colleagues, customers and communities.
“American Express has a long-standing commitment to fostering an
inclusive and welcoming workplace that reflects the diversity of
the customers and communities we serve,” said Stephen J. Squeri,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Central to this commitment
is standing up against racism and eliminating barriers that have
prevented people of all racial, ethnic and gender identities from
having equal opportunities to pursue their aspirations. To build on
the foundation of work we are doing to drive inclusion, equity and
diversity, we are announcing several actions today to advance our
progress against our priorities, with clear objectives and goals
for which we will hold ourselves accountable.”
To develop and execute on the next phase of the company’s
strategy, earlier this year, American Express formed the Office of
Enterprise Inclusion, Diversity and Business Engagement, which will
be responsible for driving these programs and measuring the
company’s progress against its objectives.
“American Express is built on relationships based on trust and
respect, and by embedding inclusion and diversity into everything
we do,” said Robert Childs, Executive Vice President of the Office
of Enterprise Inclusion, Diversity and Business Engagement. “We are
committed to mobilizing our collective resources across the company
to make an even greater impact for our colleagues, customers and
communities. Our goal is to eliminate barriers that have made it
more difficult for underrepresented groups to have equal access to
economic and social opportunities.”
BACKING OUR COLLEAGUES AND ADVANCING OUR INCLUSIVE
CULTURE
American Express is committed to fostering an inclusive,
equitable and diverse workplace where colleagues of all backgrounds
can bring their whole selves to work and thrive. To ensure its
colleagues reflect the diversity of the communities it serves, the
company is taking additional steps, including:
- Achieving and Maintaining 100% Pay Equity: A cornerstone
of American Express’ inclusive culture is equal pay for equal work.
The company has made investments over the years to ensure
colleagues in the same job, level and location are compensated
fairly regardless of gender globally and race and ethnicity in the
U.S. In 2019, the company achieved pay parity, meaning differences
in pay were statistically insignificant. This year, American
Express went even further and made additional investments to
achieve full pay parity, reaching 100% pay equity for colleagues
across genders globally and across races and ethnicities in the
U.S. The company is committed to maintaining this level going
forward.
- Enhancing Colleague Representation: As of the end of
2019, Black/African American and Latinx people represented 12.5%
and 12.9%, respectively, of American Express’ U.S. workforce, and
female colleagues comprised more than 50% of the company’s global
workforce. To ensure more balanced representation at all levels of
the company, American Express has a comprehensive strategy that
encompasses recruitment, hiring and promotion practices to attract,
develop and retain underrepresented colleagues, including
Black/African American, Latinx and female colleagues. To further
inform the company’s diversity, career and learning strategies and
strengthen its inclusive culture, American Express has launched a
voluntary Self-Identification initiative providing colleagues the
opportunity to share their diversity information with the
company.
BACKING OUR CUSTOMERS AND BUSINESS PARTNERS
American Express’ vision is to provide the world’s best customer
experience, which includes promoting equal economic opportunity for
its diverse customer base and business partners.
- Double Spend with Diverse Suppliers: American Express
plans to double its spend with diverse and minority-owned suppliers
in the U.S. to $750 million annually by the end of 2024. This
includes increasing spend with Black-owned suppliers to at least
$100 million annually.
- Expand Access to Capital and Financial Education: The
company is committed to providing access to capital and financial
education to at least 250,000 Black-owned small and medium-sized
businesses in the U.S. This includes working with Accion
Opportunity Fund, a nonprofit organization focused on financial
health, to provide minority-owned businesses with increased access
to capital to help them grow and thrive. The company is also
partnering with IFundWomen of Color to provide 100 Black female
entrepreneurs with grants of $25,000 each and access to 100 days of
business resources to help them grow their ventures.
- Evolve Its Product Experiences, Marketing and Services:
American Express will develop more inclusive marketing initiatives,
as well as design and build product experiences and programs that
better meet the needs of underrepresented consumer and business
customers, including programs that help to amplify the voices of
the Black and Latinx community and drive revenue to minority small
business owners. In addition, American Express will increase its
investment in advocacy and financial education programs geared
toward helping underrepresented customers.
BACKING OUR COMMUNITIES
American Express will allocate more resources to its community
initiatives and charitable contributions that are focused on
addressing systemic racism and advancing equality. These
include:
- Furthering Philanthropic Support: The company plans to
provide $50 million in grants by the end of 2024 to support
nonprofit organizations around the world that are led by people of
color or underrepresented groups, including organizations that are
focused on addressing inequality and promoting social justice. This
funding will build on the company’s existing efforts to advance
diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Elevating the Next Generation of Leaders: The American
Express Leadership Academy, which provides training and networking
opportunities to help emerging nonprofit and social purpose leaders
to advance their skills, will seek to increase the representation
of participants in U.S. programs who are people of color from 50%
in 2019 to 75% by 2024. Globally, the American Express Leadership
Academy will continue to provide opportunities for nonprofit
leaders to advance various causes, including those of social
justice and equality, in the communities they serve around the
world.
- Making an Impact through Giving: American Express will
continue to back its colleagues’ and customers’ passion for driving
positive change in their local communities. Earlier this month, the
company announced a significant expansion of its Give2Gether
charitable gift matching initiative through a partnership with
charitable giving community, GlobalGiving, to facilitate and match
donations by colleagues in over 30 locations around the world.
Additional information about American Express’ efforts to
address racial inequality and social issues can be found in a more
detailed fact sheet as well as in the company’s 2019-2020
Environmental, Social and Governance report.
ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS
American Express is a globally integrated payments company,
providing customers with access to products, insights and
experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn
more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on
facebook.com/americanexpress, instagram.com/americanexpress,
linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress,
and youtube.com/americanexpress.
Key links to products, services and corporate responsibility
information: charge and credit cards, business credit cards, travel
services, gift cards, prepaid cards, merchant services, Accertify,
InAuth, corporate card, business travel, and corporate
responsibility.
Source: American Express Company
Location: Global
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This release includes forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and
uncertainties, contain words such as “believe,” “expect,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “commit,” “will,” “may,”
“should,” “could,” “would,” “likely” and similar expressions.
Actual results may differ from those set forth in the
forward‐looking statements due to a variety of factors, including
those described in the company's Annual Report on Form 10‐K for the
year ended December 31, 2019, the Quarter Reports on Form 10-Q for
the quarters ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2020 and the
company’s other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward‐looking statements, which speak only as of the date
on which they are made. The company undertakes no obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements.
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American Express Rohan Ramsay 212-640-7034
Rohan.Ramsay@aexp.com
Andrew Johnson 212-640-8610 Andrew.R.Johnson@aexp.com
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