Nike Investors Want to Know If the Company Is ‘Woke-Washing’
A new shareholder proposal would force Nike to disclose the results of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Nike Inc. hasn’t shied away from pushing for diversity and inclusion, nor from speaking out against racial injustice. But now the company is under pressure to reveal more details about the real-world results of its corporate diversity initiatives. And Nike just doesn’t want to do it.
“It really is very striking, this disconnect between their marketing and their lack of transparency,” said Meredith Benton, founder of Whistle Stop Capital.
The San Francisco-based consultancy is behind a shareholder proposal that would require Nike to publish annual reports assessing the outcomes of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Nike’s board has asked investors to reject the proposal when it comes up for a vote during the company’s October 6 annual meeting.
Nike argues that the proposal is unnecessary because the company already publishes diversity metrics for its workforce. For instance, the company reported that in fiscal year 2020 women filled 43 percent of its global leadership roles, while racial and ethnic minorities filled 27 percent of the company’s U.S.-based leadership roles.
Nike’s DEI reports also outline what the company is doing to attract and develop a diverse workforce. But Nike isn’t disclosing enough measurable data about the outcomes of those efforts, according to Benton. Shareholders who support the Whistle Stop Capital proposal want Nike to reveal metrics for diversity rates in hiring, retention, and promotion.
”If we have those data points, it’s going to give us a pretty darn good sense of whether their programs and operations work,” Benton said.
The shareholder proposal stresses that Nike’s brand is intertwined with its stance on DEI issues as its “marketing focuses on indicating ally-ship with the Black community.” The proposal also notes that Nike CEO John Donahoe has acknowledged that the company “would not be what it is today without the powerful contributions of Black athletes and Black culture.
“Understanding Nike’s crucial tie to diversity, investors seek data demonstrating that something more than corporate puffery or marketing (often referred to as ‘performative ally-ship’ or ‘woke-washing’) is happening,” the proposal states.
A majority of shareholders of other major companies, including American Express Co., IBM Corp., and Union Pacific Corp., have voted in favor of similar proposals, according to Whistle Stop Capital. The firm also states that many other prominent brands, from Apple Inc. and Citigroup Inc. to Microsoft Corp. and Twitter Inc., have published or committed to publish more detailed diversity and inclusion data than Nike.
“We’ve had a wide range of companies just agree to release the data and say, ‘Yeah, it makes sense,’” Benton said.
From: Corporate Counsel