 Hi everyone, really excited to be here on the virtual stage today, talking about how corporate America is advancing racial equity through data and transparency. Over the last few months, I've spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to sit with discomfort. Now, I'm not talking about the discomfort that my three-year-old feels when we sit in the car for more than 20 minutes. I'm talking about the discomfort where you feel pain and anguish that comes with fear and vulnerability. The type that we shouldn't dispel but hold on to, understand and learn from. You know, the type of discomfort that fundamentally changes us. It's now been over a year since George Floyd's murder and the national reckoning with systemic injustice that led corporate America to really sit with this type of discomfort and truly reflect on its role in perpetuating racial inequity. Companies began to prioritize racial equity in more significant ways. They made both statements to shift their corporate cultures, their ways of workings and the investments that they made to advance racial equity. But what's clear a year out is that there is still so much more work to be done. At this moment, we and other stakeholders are asking the question, are companies walking the talk and really driving change that's needed to build a more equitable economy for black and brown Americans? It's one thing for corporate leaders to say, they support their black and brown employees. But it's another for companies to prioritize pay equity, to create quantitative diversity targets, to invest in local schools and community organizations, to provide clear development programs and build diverse boards. And more so, to be transparent about their efforts and progress in doing so. All of these steps are ones that address the systemic inequities that have disadvantaged communities of colors for all of history. Just about a year ago, we looked at how companies immediately responded to the urgent calls for racial equity following Floyd's murder. And we found that out of the 300 largest US employers, just about 66% of them made statements in support of their black employees and the Black Lives Matter movement. Now, these statements marked a real turning point because many corporate leaders for the first time were taking a public stand on systemic racism. But in the year following these initial calls for change, we surveyed the American public to really understand what they think companies should be doing to drive change. We found that 95% of black Americans agree it's important for companies to promote racial equity in the workplace. But 83% said companies have more work to do, which shows that the talk of commitment is just not enough. There's one thing that remains clear. It is difficult to assess the concrete actions companies are taking to advance racial equity in America. Disclosures on key issues just aren't standardized. Many companies have a fair bit of room to grow before they can disclose a good story on issues like pay equity and workplace diversity. And so they've held back from setting targets. They've held back from releasing data and they've held back from showing real progress. And this is why at Just Capital we created a corporate racial equity tracker to fill that gap to begin to centralize data that America's 100 largest employers have released both over time and within the last year to provide a clearer picture of the state of disclosure on DEI issues across corporate America. Here's what we found. So we evaluated America's 100 largest employees across six different domains, anti-discrimination policies, pay equity, racial and ethnic diversity data, education and training programs, response to mass incarceration and community investments. And across these dimensions, we looked at 22 different data points that capture corporate commitments and actions. For example, we looked at whether companies are conducting pay equity analysis by race and ethnicity, whether they set quantitative workforce diversity targets, whether they have a reentry policy for formerly incarcerated individuals and whether they're providing funding for local education. When we look at these six dimensions in aggregate, we see that some are better represented than others. But the thing is that we really found out of the nation's 100 largest employers, they are very likely to disclose baseline DEI policies like equal opportunity or anti harassment. But when it comes to taking concrete actions or showing accountability towards progress, there are far fewer companies that are being transparent. Only 31% of the 100 largest employers have conducted a pay equity analysis by race or ethnicity. In other words, far more companies are making commitments to racial equity, basically providing a statement or a broad policy that notes that a company is committed to a certain element of anti-discrimination or inclusion. But far fewer companies are taking actions, providing a program, a disclosure, a policy that demonstrates concrete progress or accountability towards a commitment or one that has an immediate impact. When we look more closely at the data, anti-discrimination policies, you'll see that there is a difference that is pretty stark. While nearly all companies provide equal opportunity anti-harassment, there's only 29% that disclose quantitative diversity targets and only 20% offer anti-harassment training. When we look at companies on issues of pay equity, again, only 31% of them have done so by race or ethnicity. But what's more, only 14 of these 31 companies have actually revealed what the pay disparities between white employees and employees of color actually look like. Now this is where the rubber hits the road, be it anti-discrimination policies or pay equity. When companies move from commitment to action, they drive real change for their employees and the communities of color, rather than just signaling their commitments. One of the things that's missing from this conversation is a North Star, a common language that all companies can use when committing to advancing racial equity. Last year, Just Capital partnered with Policy Link and FSG to create a CEO blueprint for racial equity that provides critical actions for corporate leaders who are looking to center racial equity in their mission and operations. This blueprint is just a critical first step in developing standards to truly advance racial equities, policies, practices, and disclosures. You know, without transparency and standardized disclosure, it's incredibly difficult to assess how racial equity is being prioritized in corporate America. It's also difficult for corporate leaders to know what steps to take and to understand that their actions built impact within their communities, within their companies, and within society more broadly. We recently spoke with Intel's Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Dawn Jones. She shared that Intel's transparency in disclosing their DEI targets and progress, while sometimes uncomfortable, adds a layer of accountability and a sense of urgency to improve. But she thought that a lot of companies might not want to feel that discomfort. Well, I'd argued on that companies are going to need to sit through this discomfort in order to truly understand the impact of their commitments that they've made and ultimately hold them accountable to achieving them. Because on the other side of this discomfort lies a path towards real advancement. A path where corporate America doesn't just commit to the ideals of racial equity, but takes the actions to help drive the long needed, concrete change that Americans, particularly black and brown Americans, need today and in the future. Thank you.