While the win against the Washington NFL team was gratifying (asked for comment, FedEx said it appreciated “the team’s decision”), Aiyer has moved on. Now, her firm will redouble its efforts to get publicly traded companies, ranging from retail to health care, to sharpen their ESG metrics. Among the proposed strategies are tying compensation to racial equity goals, examining supply chains and addressing implicit biases in marketing.
Boston Common also plans to push executives to disclose their support of—or membership in—organizations advocating for policies that unfairly impact minorities. She cited the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a conservative group that supports legislation favoring gun rights, including so-called stand your ground laws.
“We want to make sure companies are paying attention to what they are signing up to and paying for,’’ Aiyer said.
And as corporations confront the lack of diversity within their ranks, Aiyer said they also need to match efforts they’re making on measuring and disclosing carbon emissions. She said upper management tends to wrongly view diversity as a zero-sum game instead of as a common good—much as executives view addressing the climate crisis.
“Diversity is not just about numbers, but about wealth-building opportunities that afford protections and privileges in all areas, such as housing, education and criminal justice encounters,’’ Aiyer said. “Financial and net worth inequity is a very big undergirding of injustice.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.