Last Updated:
10/13/20 9:49 PM
overall rating:
do better
Urban Outfitters
Internal Representation & Support
25%
Public Commitment
56%
External Communication
67%
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.
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Forms of monetary support we look for:
One-off donations
Recurring donations
Grant initiatives
Employee donation matching
Highlights
Since June, Urban Outfitters has drastically increased Black and Brown representation in their models as well as meaningful content across their Instagram feed. They have also begun consistently sharing more Black artists and activists and were encouraging voting across almost all of their brands' Instagram handles during election season.
Lowlights
In June, news came out of UO's racist practices both in stores and in HQ, which is compounded by their absolute lack of Black representation on both their Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team. Their public statement issued around Black Lives Matter also falls flat and is extremely vague.
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:
0% (none) Black, 11% - 15% BIPOC, 31% - 35% Women
Executive Leadership:
0% (none) Black, 0% (none) BIPOC, > 50% Women
Information not publicly available
Workforce:
Information is not publicly available
DEI Support:
II. Public Commitment
Urban Outfitters has pledged a donation of 0.001% - 0.009% of annual revenue towards racial injustice, specifically for Black lives. Additionally, Urban Outfitters has engaged in actions that advance racial justice and/or uplift BIPOC communities, such as sponsorship of individuals who use their platform to speak out on racial injustice, co-branded partnerships with other companies, and matching donations to a broad range of qualifying organizations. Urban Outfitters is also an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and people living with disabilities.
III. External Communications
Urban Outfitters has issued a public statement, both on social media and in a public memo, addressing racial injustice The public statement acknowledged that they can be doing better to combat racial inequality within their company, included specific calls to action, and explicitly stated "Black Lives Matter." Since June 2020, 10% - 20% of the brand's social media content has been centered around racial injustice with posts seeming performative in nature. While the brand has made an effort to include ethnic diversity, specifically increasing Black representation, aside from a post for Pride, there is little to no evidence on social media of inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community (beyond posting for Pride), people living with disabilities, or a wide range of models with varying body types.
