🌱🐰💰 Pride
June marks the start of Pride month, an opportunity to celebrate, educate and reflect on the influence of the LGBTQ community across the globe. While there’s a lot to celebrate, there are a lot of issues still to tackle.
The Good, the Bunny and the Money is our monthly take on the latest impactful success stories from across the U.S. and around the World.
'🌱 The Good' looks at nonprofits leading the way in impactful change;
'💰 The Money' takes a dive into the private-sector champions driving financial inclusion & economic development; and
'🐰 The Bunny' showcases the most promising collaborations between nonprofits and businesses working hand in hand for the People and the Planet.
June marks the start of Pride month, an opportunity to celebrate, educate and reflect on the influence of the LGBTQ+ community across the globe. While there’s a lot to celebrate, there are a lot of issues still to tackle, this month we take a look at some of the organizations leading the charge for LGBTQ+ Inclusion.
🌱 The Good: Empowering LGBTQ Entrepreneurs - the StartOut Way
The majority of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs have encountered unequal access to the resources needed to grow their businesses. More than $1.5 trillion was invested by Venture Capitalist firms globally between 2010 - 2019, yet less than 1% of funding deals go to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. That’s why nonprofit (and bunny.money partner), StartOut, was founded - to promote LGBTQ+ equality in business. An exciting new project is the “StartOut Pride Economic Impact Index or SPEII'' - an online platform that analyses data to identify the economic impact of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. SPEII’s goal is to provide a nation-wide view of where LGBTQ+ communities have economic parity compared to where they haven’t. This will help measure the impact of inequality on the larger economy and lead to more targeted support for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
💰 The Money: Invest for LGBTQ+ Equality
Whilst challenges remain, major companies are increasingly making business-critical decisions to embrace LGBTQ+ rights. A signal for progress is the launch of a first of its kind exchange-traded fund (ETF), the LGBTQ + 100, by LGBTQ Loyalty Holdings. The fund enables investors to invest in the top 100 U.S. companies that most align with the LGBTQ community.
How? 25% of the index is weighted on community survey data from 150,000 self-identifying LGBTQ constituents on a company's brand awareness, brand image, brand loyalty and how the firm supports the community.
Show me the money: The idea behind the LGBTQ + ESG100 Index is that employers that embrace equality in the workplace build better brands and outperform their competitors in the marketplace. It’s a positive feedback loop. Top young talent increasingly prioritize inclusive workplaces. As promising talent join these companies they perform better, and as a result, their stock price rises in the long-term.
🐰 The Bunny: Procter & Gamble Partners With GLAAD To Advance LGBTQ Acceptance Through Advertising
The problem: A recent study found only 1.8% of characters in ads at the Cannes Lions festival were LGBTQ, yet a recent poll showed at least 16% of 18 to 34-year olds identify as LGBTQ. Representation drives acceptance - what people see and hear in the media may influence the decisions they make in boardrooms, academia and institutions.
The challenge: A study between GLAAD and the consumer products giant Procter & Gamble revealed that one concern for marketing executives is the fear of inauthentic representation and potential public backlash from the LGBTQ community.
Partnered for inclusion: GLAAD and Procter & Gamble announced the launch of a $1 million campaign, The Visibility Project, aimed at driving LGBTQ inclusion in advertising. The funding will be spent on advancing the tools and best practices around LGBTQ inclusion, required by advertising executives to eliminate concerns about backlash from the community. Ultimately, to create a pathway forward for more LGBTQ inclusion.
🥕 What else we’re munching:
- Big tech made big claims to fight racial inequality in 2020 - here is how they are getting on
- Record breaking commitment of over $1Billion to support Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the US
- US-based non-proft works to reunite Ethiopian families separated by adoption
- TAZO and American Forests collaborating to create jobs in low income communities to ensure ‘Tree-Equity’ Price chopper joining forces with the American Dairy Association to provide fresh milk to local food banks
Image Credits: Cover Photo by Mercedes Melling via Unsplash; Start Out; Dial D for Diversity; Bryan Bedder/Getty