Published October 15, 2021 by Take on Race, Corey Anthony (AT&T)

We Hear You, Loud and Clear

A key first step to tackling the systemic disparities in racial equity is acknowledging that the silence of Corporate America has left a critical void in the pursuit of racial equity in the U.S. It is vital for corporate leadership to participate in and advance serious discussions coupled with strong actions to address the inequities seen in Corporate America. One way that leadership can begin to acknowledge the role that Corporate America plays is to take a hard look at their own inner workings and self-report on the measures that they are taking to address racism and it’s negative impact upon Black and Brown people.

AT&T, a Take on Race coalition partner, has taken a step in this direction by creating their own annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion report. AT&T will use the data presented in this annual report to ensure progress towards documented goals, both short-term and long-term. With consistent and accurate data, AT&T gains total visibility of workforce diversity across the organization. The company then uses the data from the previous year’s report to formulate actions and initiatives for the coming year. With annual data updates, AT&T can target organizational change where needed and foster accountability at the highest level. At Take on Race, we believe that our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. It is time to take the example that corporations like AT&T are setting and apply them to your own industry. Visit TakeonRace.org to see what other organizations are doing and work with experienced companies to learn what you can do to advance the racial equity movement.

Last year impacted the way we live and work in ways that we never could have anticipated. People around the world rallied together to face a pandemic and to stand against racism. Guided by our principles, it was important that AT&T respond to the crisis and rise to the occasion.

I’m proud to showcase the progress on our commitments in this seventh edition of the AT&T Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Annual Report. You may notice we’ve embraced equity as a pillar of our efforts. This is because diversity, equity and inclusion are needed to achieve equality for all.

The theme of this year’s report is “Loud and Clear.” In 2020, in order to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of our employees and customers’ experiences, we made active listening across multiple touchpoints a priority. Their input and feedback, coupled with expertise from inside and outside of the business, gave us the knowledge to formulate our actions. Our efforts, summarized in this report, reflect their input.

You’ll see our clearly communicated pledge to provide transparency within AT&T’s workforce. Our global workforce is comprised of 34% women, and our U.S. workforce is 46% people of color. At a senior level, our Board of Directors is made up of 21% people of color, which exceeds the average for our industry in the Fortune 500. Women comprise 21% of our Board, on par with the industry average. Our employee demographic numbers are among the best in the technology, media and telecommunications industry. To drill down on the workforce data, you can (and should) read the AT&T 2020 EEO-1 report. The annual filing is a mandatory data collection submitted to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and looks at our race/ethnicity, sex and job categories.

Diversity is core to who we are at AT&T. Our diverse employee base helps us understand how we meet the needs of our communities and customers. With the pandemic hitting Black and other underserved communities the hardest, we worked to provide solutions like our $10 million Economic Empowerment initiative.

And when our stakeholders told us that equality, justice, diversity, representation and inclusion are top priorities, we listened and took action. We increased our efforts to effect policy change on systemic injustices and continue to support leading civil rights organizations. In 2020, we spent $13.2 billion with diverse suppliers, including $3.1 billion with Black-owned suppliers, surpassing a $3 billion two-year commitment to advance economic equality across our businesses and communities. We also continued our work to better represent our diverse audiences in our advertising.

We listened and heard our customers and employees loud and clear and we will continue to do so no matter what comes next. I invite you to read the AT&T Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Annual Report in its entirety. Within, you’ll discover the full, global scope of the work our teams are doing and come to better understand our deep commitment to creating a culture of inclusion at AT&T and in our communities.