‘Forbes’ Unveils ‘America’s Best Employers For Diversity’

Over the past two years, the focus on racial equity has been significant for minorities in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed inequities in healthcare. Remote learning exposed technology gaps for lower-income Americans The economic fallout hit Black workers the hardest and exposed the need for Black-owned businesses to have financial inclusion and access to capital.

Black workers especially have made significant strides and can express themselves and their culture without fear of retribution. Forbes‘ 2022 list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity reflects those strides.

This year’s Forbes list not only includes more companies in banking and finance, an area with little Black representation, as well as healthcare and education.

“The impact of COVID-19 took the world by storm and revealed the magnitude of inequalities that exist in communities of color, especially Black- and minority-owned businesses,” John Patton, head of U.S. diversity and inclusion at TD Bank, told Forbes. “To stay on track and continue on our path to diversify talent across the organization, we’ve enhanced our focus on diversity and inclusion and we report on our progress annually as part of our Environment, Social, and Governance Reporting suite.”

Progressive Insurance is at the top of the list and made the magazine’s list of America’s best large employers. Four more insurance companies—Mutual of Omaha, The Hartford, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, and United Services Automobile Association—made the top 20.

Two banks (TD Bank at #9 and Quicken Loans at #10) made the top 10; two more (Fidelity Investments and TIAA) made the top 30. Meanwhile, three IT and software companies (VMware, Adobe, and the SAS Institute) made the top 10; two more (Linkedin and Nintendo) made the top 30.

Statista, who partnered with Forbes to make the list, found some of the top-performing companies on the list have actionable plans and initiatives aimed at providing support and representation for diverse employees, including leadership programs targeting underrepresented groups and women.

According to Statista, 16 percent of the groups that made the Forbes list have female CEOs and 31 percent have executive leadership and board positions filled by women. Additionally, more than half the businesses on the list (55 percent) have an executive leadership position with the task of promoting diversity and inclusion.

The full list can be seen here.