Biz Journals: Businesses take stock of diversity efforts

3M, U.S. Bank make progress in diversity efforts, reports Center for Economic Inclusion - Alyxandra Sego - Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, September 13, 2023

“While pressures to abandon racial equity and inclusion efforts are loud and sometimes vicious, the case for accelerating efforts is even more compelling when considering the opportunity that inclusion presents businesses and our broader economy.”

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) are among Minnesota companies making progress in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to this year’s racial-equity report from the Center for Economic Inclusion (Center).

The "2023 Racial Equity Dividends Index Report- Private Sector" is the second annual report from the St. Paul-based racial economics organization. Last year, 40 companies with large footprints in Minnesota participated in the racial-equity survey. For this year, 22 companies participated, making the total of unique companies participating for both years at 50, the Center reports.

The index was created as a tool to help businesses identify and monitor their actions for anti-racism, Tawanna Black, the Center’s founder and CEO wrote in the report’s opening statement. It also serves as a barometer for consumers, workers, shareholders and investors, she continued.

The index currently measures 43 racial-equity standards across seven equally-weighted categories (leadership; hiring; culture, retention and advancement; procurement; products and services; philanthropy and investment; and public policy). Some categories, if they were not applicable to a certain company, were excluded from that company’s total score. For example, if a company didn’t participate in lobbying, public policy may not be measured against their score.

According to the report, the average score for this year’s participants was 44 out of 100.

Both 3M and U.S. Bancorp met racial-equity standards within four of the seven categories, the highest in this index. Maplewood-based 3M scored at highly in initiatives related to leadership, hiring, procurement, as well as philanthropy and investment. Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, meanwhile, scored highly in leadership, hiring, products and services, as well as philanthropy and investment. Both organizations last year met the report’s standards for the category measuring culture, retention and advancement, but did not do so in this year’s report. 

Click to read full article from BizJournals (paywall)

• Read the full 2023 Racial Equity Dividends Index for the private sector to learn more about the organizations that participated.

• Contact Nashan McKelton, director of sales and growth if you want to see how your organization measures up.

• Join us at our Oct. 5 #PoweringInclusion Forum (a virtual event) to understand how recent U.S. policy changes could undermine these efforts!

Making the Unseen Visible: The Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector

The 2023 Racial Equity Dividends Index registration period is open now through Friday, July 15. Register your organization today.

By Heather Worthington, Managing Consultant

In the last few years, local governments have begun to truly embrace the deeper work of changing policies and practices to address racial disparities in their communities. As they reckon with this, they have found limited tools available to truly measure progress in this area.

As John Dulles said, “The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.”

Dozens of organizations in the state are working to solve this dilemma through a unique new racial equity tool.

A Data-Driven Tool to Guide Racial Equity Action

The Racial Equity Dividends Index (Index) for the Public Sector helps public entities better understand their organization’s progress toward meeting their racial equity goals. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work is important, but in order create and scale systemic change with results that matters to the communities local governments serve, adopting an anti-racist mindset and framework is key. The Racial Equity Dividends Index—Public Sector helps organizations establish a baseline that can be used year-over-year to:

• guide action on racial equity work

• enlist help from staff

• help prioritize resources, and

• experience the meaningful and measurable impact of achieving greater performance in areas like recruitment and retention of employees, procurement from Black, Indigenous, Asian or Latine-owned businesses, and development that addresses historic harms and catalyzes trust-based development in communities of color. 

 The Index also helps organizations understand how policies and practices impact the community in areas like housing, economic development, transportation, public safety, and human services.

Learning to Lead on Racial Equity

Public Sector leaders see the Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector as an important resource for local governments to use in establishing a baseline measurement of their racial equity work.

“This tool will empower our public organizations to build anti-racist policies,” says District 14 Metropolitan Council Commissioner Toni Carter. “With the help of the Center, and through this Index, our public institutions can truly focus their attention to using their results to uplift Black and Brown people in our communities who have been historically undervalued and underserved.”

Participating organizations receive a report of their results and peer rankings. The report also features peer-reviewed research and profiles of successful approaches to each focus area from the Center and our national partners like Brookings and Policy Link. These features offer supporting documentation for the standards for anti-racism that comprise the Index survey questions. The Report offers organizations a road map for taking action to accelerate areas of strength, and uproot systemic roadblocks to progress on the journey to racial equity and inclusion.

“We know that our communities are looking to us to take the lead on diversity, equity and inclusion,” Center Managing Consultant, Heather Worthington. “We also know that leadership needs data-rich resources like these to show residents, elected officials, and staff that this work is a necessary investment and will benefit everyone. The Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector is one of the most valuable tools in helping build that business case for investing heads, hearts, and budgets in building a stronger community.” 

Maximizing Action with Limited Resources

For many local governments, data collection is a heavy lift. Human and financial capital and resource restrictions are the source of analysis paralysis – leading to the ever-present question of, “where do we start?” The Racial Equity Index-Public Sector is an ideal tool to get started on measuring racial equity progress—and making sure the strategy aligns with the needs of residents, employers, and government entities.

Once the metrics are more widely understood, the Center can work with staff to address the findings from the Index to assist leaders in better utilizing their unique data with regard to policy and practices. Finally, while all data is anonymized, it is peer-reviewed with similar size local governments in Minnesota and comparable communities across nation. This benchmarking helps organizations establish racial equity goals that also facilitate inclusive economic growth and competitiveness, helping to ensure the community you are building is a community of choice for talent, employers, and investors. 

Getting started is often the hardest part of the work. We’re here to offer a tool that can help leaders take that first step toward becoming a more equitable and inclusive organization. And we’ll be there to guide you and your peers and elected leaders on the journey from increased awareness about what’s working and what’s not, to taking actions that will transform the community into one that is good for all people to live, work and play.

This is an investment that will pay great dividends for staff and ultimately for the community.

• To learn more about the Public Sector Index, email Center for Economic Inclusion Director of Sales & Growth, Nashan McKelton at activate@centerforeconomicinclusion.org.
  
  

A Long Overdue Investment in Racial Justice: Raising Wages for Care Workers

Betsy Ohrn

By Betsy Ohrn Director of Research

At the Center for Economic Inclusion, we believe all workers should earn a family sustaining wage.

One racial equity priority that we were excited to see reflected in Governor Walz’s proposed budget is a major investment to increase the wages of direct care workers. The budget includes $300 million in this biennium and $500 million in the next to implement the tentative contract agreement between the State of Minnesota and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, providing a historic rate increase for more than 20,000 home care workers in Minnesota.  This is a critical opportunity to address a deep racial injustice that touches the lives of hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans. 

“As a woman of color who has chosen to make Homecare a career choice I cannot express how discouraging it is to find an occupation that you truly love and are made for, which also benefits the people you provide services to, but find that you can’t earn enough at to financially support your own household without some type of assistance or additional employment.”- Tavona Johnson 

Women make up 85% of the direct care workforce, 36% of these workers are people of color. Based on DEED data, almost 11% of working Black Minnesotans work as direct care workers (personal care workers, or nursing/home health aides.) This follows a national trend which also shows that Black women are deeply overrepresented in direct care occupations. This occupational segregation reflects a legacy of slavery and domestic servanthood that continues today. Where enslaved Black women were once charged with caring for White children, Black women were then sidelined into work as domestic servants and childcare workers, and now increasingly they are called to care for the growing elderly population. 

The injustice is not the work itself, but the fact that the work continues to be deeply underpaid, even though this work is essential to the well-being of hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans. In 2020, the average wage for all direct care workers in Minnesota was $14.72 per hour. Around 40% of direct care workers have insurance through Medicaid, Medicare, or another public source.1  

Further, these professions are critical to the future of Minnesota, especially as our population continues to age. Direct Care Workers, nursing assistants and personal care assistants, are two of the fastest growing professions in Minnesota. However, low wages and challenging working conditions are already resulting in large vacancy rates. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, the last estimate at the end of 2021 showed more than 9,100 job openings — a vacancy rate of 8.4%. In 2022, Minnesota nursing homes reported the largest staffing shortages in the country. These staffing shortages make the work harder for the remaining care workers, place extreme stress on family members, and are creating burdens on our hospital system.  Having committed, well-trained, and experienced workers in these roles is critical to the dignity and well-being of Minnesotans needing care.  

While some employers may want to raise wages, market failures and policy hold back what is possible. Federal Medicaid and Medicare rules constrain how much states can reimburse for direct care services. For this reason, state level leadership is critical to this issue. The agreement between SEIU Healthcare and the State of Minnesota would increase starting wages from $15.25 to $20 per hour by 2025. The deal covers more than 20,000 caregivers, about a fifth of the total direct care workers across the state. If the legislature approves and funds this contract, it will be a significant step forward for many direct care workers.  

This is a historic investment in the wages of workers who are essential to Minnesota’s economy. Not only does this benefit our homecare workers, it also goes a long way to attract committed people to these important jobs. However, you do not need to be a member of SEIU to show your support.  

• Want to know more about how we do our research? Check out our Indicators for an Inclusive Regional Economy

• Take Action: Find and call your legislator. Let them know you support this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our workers and of all Minnesotans that need dedicated people caring for them. 

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Previewing the Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector

Nathan Arnosti

By Nathan Arnosti, Director of Analytics

Racial Equity: The New Public Priority

Forward-thinking leaders in local governments across the country recognize that many existing practices and policies stand in the way of goals to build racially equitable, inclusive, and prosperous communities.

Studies show that status quo practices – outdated job requirements that exclude candidates of color, purchasing agreements with longstanding contractors that hinder their ability to diversify their supply chains and increase regional job growth among Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian entrepreneurs,  land use planning that fails to integrate the needs and perspectives of historically marginalized communities, economic development incentives that subsidize low-wage job creation –exacerbate racial wealth gaps and restrict regional economic growth.

​​​​​​​Meanwhile, emerging practices based on research and pilot demonstrations in local governments across the country offer paths to improved service delivery, community relations, livability, and shared economic prosperity.

Many local governments have established taskforces and committees, created new permanent roles and teams, and joined peer learning networks to make progress towards becoming more racially equitable and inclusive. Yet these efforts are too often piecemeal, siloed within specific departments, and lacking broader context and peer comparison. Based on conversations we’ve had with public sector leaders and partners in recent months, we believe that those looking to take their next steps towards building racially equitable governments would benefit from a new tool developed by the Center for Economic Inclusion, the Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector.

What Gets Measured, Gets Done

This analytical tool evaluates a local government’s internal and external-facing practices across ten dimensions, including Procurement, Community and Economic Development, and Budgets, identifying more than 60 racial equity standards that research and experience affirm to support more racially equitable and inclusive outcomes. Participating organizations receive a customized score report that provides a clear, concise, quantified picture of their government’s overall current state for supporting racial equity, benchmarks progress against peers, and identifies opportunities for further progress. High-scoring entities will also be publicly recognized in an annual Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector report. The Public Sector Index structure is modeled off of the Center’s Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Private Sector, which launched in 2022 for private sector employers.

How To Participate

Registration for the first annual Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector begins at the end of April and will be available to city and county governments in Minnesota and select jurisdictions across the United States. Email me at narnosti@centerforeconomicinclusion.org if you have questions, and stay tuned for more information about registration for the Public Sector Index in the coming weeks!

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