Practical How-To Guide Outlines Proven Strategies Organizations Can Employ to Find, Support, and Retain Employees of Color; Follows Successful ParityMODEL for Women in Leadership

Parity.Org today announced its new ParityMODEL for People of Color in Leadership, available for download here. The ParityMODEL is based on extensive research and in-depth insights from organizations that have succeeded in attracting, promoting, and retaining employees of color. The proprietary framework from Parity.Org is organized around three key pillars of Representation, Equality, and Inclusion and empowers leaders with insight into the specific policies, practices, and approaches that effectively remove barriers and ensure people of color have equal opportunities to advance and succeed.

The ParityMODEL for People of Color in Leadership is designed to be used in conjunction with the  ParityMODEL for Women in Leadership. Among businesses that have downloaded the ParityMODEL for Women, 97.33% agreed that the best practices influenced their organization’s DEI strategies and approaches, 66.67% said it helped them improve their recruitment practices, and 46.67% said it helped their organizations more effectively measure pay parity or improve their existing pay assessment programs. Leaders can expect the same from the ParityMODEL for People of Color.

“Creating a business that is equitable from the top to bottom is – or at least, should be – top of mind for every business leader. Yet people of color currently occupy just 17% of C-Suite positions, despite the fact that they represent 31% of the entry-level workforce. Changing this reality won’t happen by accident, and will require intentional actions, which is where the ParityMODEL comes in,” said Cathrin Stickney, CEO and founder of Parity.Org. “We’ve created this first-of-its-kind, practical roadmap to give companies a very tangible understanding of what they can do to remove barriers, and more effectively attract, develop, and retain people of color.”

Companies can use the ParityMODEL in every corner of their organization. From specific recruitment strategies, to tips on how to mitigate bias in hiring and promotion processes, to best practices for measuring progress, to critical considerations when designing benefit packages. The ParityMODEL for People of Color in Leadership was underwritten by Cisco and Capri Holdings Limited (Versace, Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors) – both strong advocates for the advancement of employees of color in their own businesses.

“When we took a hard look at our own goals at Cisco, we determined we weren’t thinking big enough. We ultimately decided to set a goal to increase the representation of people of color by 75% at the director and executive level, because we know more diverse talent at the top naturally results in more diversity throughout,” said Kelly Jones, Chief People Officer at Cisco Systems. “We chose to underwrite the ParityMODEL for People of Color in Leadership because it’s exactly the resource we were missing – and wish we had – when we undertook this mission, and we want others to have a leg up when they commit to DEI, too.”

“What we really admire about the ParityMODEL is how prescriptive it is. It’s not just suggesting principles that can guide an organization, but sharing specific, actionable tips that every team within an organization can implement,” said Semoneel Bamboat, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion and Talent Acquisition at Capri Holdings. “For example, Capri is really focused on investing in students to fuel our talent pipeline for the future – which Parity.Org has included steps on how to do. It advances Capri’s goals to ensure the future of fashion is diverse, and this guide helps accomplish that.”