Last Updated:
11/8/20 2:43 PM
overall rating:
do better
Costco
Internal Representation & Support
18%
Public Commitment
50%
External Communication
21%
To evaluate this pillar, we take into consideration a range of factors, including but not limited to:
- Employee representation
- Diversity, equity, & inclusion (DEI)
We weigh a company’s degree of public commitment primarily on their monetary contributions to DEI matters or organizations fighting racial injustice.
Forms of monetary support we look for:
One-off donations
Recurring donations
Grant initiatives
Employee donation matching
Highlights
Costco pulled all Palmetto Cheese products from its shelves after the company's owner calls Black Lives Matter a "terrorist organization".
Lowlights
Costco's diversity statement is limited to one sentence, which is compounded by the fact that their leadership team (EVP and above) are all white males (including their Chief Diversity Officer). There are also accusations that the company sent employees home for wearing Black Lives Matter masks.
We scour the company’s website and official social media channels to determine what message they are sending around racial injustice, how they are communicating it, and whether their communications are perceived as genuine or performative.
Public statement: We verify that companies have made a formal statement regarding racial injustice.
Social media: We consider how a company uses their platform(s) beyond performative allyship.
Representation: For companies that have the opportunity to showcase diversity in their feed, we consider whether they have adequate Black representation and BIPOC representation across their models.
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Deep Dive
I. Internal Representation & Support:
Board of Directors:
8% - 9% Black, 6% - 10% BIPOC, 26% - 30% Women
Executive Leadership:
0% (none) Black, 0% (none) BIPOC, 0% (none) Women
Information not publicly available
Workforce:
Information is not publicly available
DEI Support:
II. Public Commitment
Costco has pledged a donation of 0.01% - 0.09% of annual revenue towards racial injustice, specifically for Black lives. Additionally, Costco has engaged in actions that advance racial justice and/or uplift BIPOC communities, such as matching donations to a broad range of qualifying organizations. Costco is also an advocate for Indigienous populations.
III. External Communications
Costco has issued a public statement in a public memo addressing racial injustice that acknowledged that they can be doing better to combat racial inequality within their company. However, it did not include specific calls to action or explicitly state "Black Lives Matter." Since June 2020, the brand has not posted on social media about racial injustice. While the brand does not regularly feature models in their social media posts, there is little to no evidence of additional actions the brand takes to show support of the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities.
