American Express continues to advance equal opportunity for all through its strong commitment to placing diversity, equity, and inclusion at the core of its workplace values. This week, the company was recognized for its DE&I efforts on two key assessments.
The company has maintained its long-standing inclusion on Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality Index (having participated since 2015) and its 100% score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (100% since 2004)—both of which came out this week.
American Express Chief Colleague Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Talent Officer Sonia Cargan said, "We are working to create meaningful progress toward an inclusive culture that enables everyone to reach their full potential. Being recognized among other companies striving to create equal opportunity for all inspires us to continue to drive the momentum forward."
American Express is committed to creating a workplace culture where colleagues feel heard, valued, and can thrive. In 2021, the company introduced Self-ID to give colleagues the opportunity to voluntarily and confidentially self-identify across four key categories including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disability status. In 2020, American Express launched the Ambition Project to encourage women to fully embrace their ambition and pay it forward. Later that same year, it announced a multi-year $1 Billion Action Plan to promote racial, ethnic and gender equity for its colleagues, customers, and communities.
American Express Chief Legal Officer and Executive Sponsor of the PRIDE+ colleague network Laureen Seeger shared, “We are committed to ensuring our workplace supports all communities, including our LGBTQ+ colleagues. I’m proud to say that this year marks the company’s 20th consecutive year on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index – and through initiatives including Self-ID, our longstanding PRIDE+ Network, and our gender and sexual orientation neutral benefits programs, we continue to champion LGBTQ+ inclusion, advocacy and career development.”
Denise Pickett, President, Global Services Group added, “Throughout my 30 years at American Express, I have been inspired by the company’s unwavering efforts to advance gender equality. As Executive Sponsor of our Global Women’s Interest Network (WIN), I see first-hand the tremendous progress that has been made to drive our women’s initiative forward.”
In 2020, American Express achieved 100% pay equity for colleagues across genders globally and across races and ethnicities in the United States. In the same year, 48% of new hires globally were women and among colleagues that received promotions globally, 46% were women.
Today, women make up 27% of the Board and 37% of the company’s Executive Committee.
To read more on the company’s ongoing commitments to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, visit here.