4 Tips For Performing Effective Racial Equity Audits

Lindsay Burke and Aaron Lewis’ commentary was included in a Law360 article examining the best ways for companies to perform effective racial equity audits.

Lindsay observed that "a lot of companies have decided it's a business imperative that they have a diverse workforce, and that their workforces match the communities they do business in, and the communities they serve.”

"We're trying to get underneath and see what they're actually doing here," Lindsay said. "You say your goal is X, what are your steps for achieving that goal?"

Aaron also highlighted the importance of engaging employee resource group (ERG) leaders and middle managers in racial equity audits. He told Law360 that his team consistently makes it a priority to catch up with the ERG heads because they have a unique vantage point into the experiences of particular sects of employees. "We almost always speak with leaders of ERGs," Aaron said. "And we do that because they often have a very helpful, insider perspective in terms of how a company's programs and initiatives are being experienced by the people they're intended to help."

Both Lindsay and Aaron further discussed the value of publicly sharing results of racial equity audits, with Aaron observing that “there is an effort by these companies to report the good work that they're doing for several constituencies that are interested in learning about it: their own workforce, their external partners, their shareholders. The publication of these reports is something responsible companies undertake.” Lindsay agreed, adding that “our view is that the purpose of these projects is to provide transparency to the stakeholders and to build trust, and that is best accomplished by publishing the report and not by holding back. The point of that undertaking is transparency,” she said.