Last Updated:
11/8/20 10:39 AM
overall rating:
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Sephora
Internal Representation & Support
48%
Public Commitment
66%
External Communication
72%
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
Sephora was the first company to sign the 15 Percent Pledge, thereby pledging to dedicate at least 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands. They also participated in Sharon Chuter's Pull Up For Change Initiative and released the number of Black employees at every level of their company. Moreover, Sephora's public statement has acknowledged their own blatantly racist in-store practices.
Lowlights
Sephora has a known history of racial profiling, for example SZA's highly publicized incident in 2019. Out of their 3,000+ brands carried, the company currently only offers less than 10 Black-owned brands. There is zero Black representation on their Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team, and less than half of their ELT are women.
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, 0% (none) BIPOC, 41% - 45% Women
Executive Leadership:
0% (none) Black, 0% (none) BIPOC, 41% - 45% Women
14% - 15% Black, > 40% BIPOC, > 50% Women
Workforce:
A Black employee resource group
DEI Support:
II. Public Commitment
Sephora has pledged a donation of 0.01% - 0.09% of annual revenue towards racial injustice, specifically for Black lives. Additionally, Sephora has engaged in actions that advance racial justice and/or uplift BIPOC communities, such as partnerships with nonprofits or mission-based organizations, sponsorship of individuals who use their platform to speak out on racial injustice, and matching donations to a broad range of qualifying organizations. Sephora is also an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, people living with disabilities, and Indigienous populations.
III. External Communications
Sephora 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, 0.1% - 9% 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, and has shown support of the LGBTQ+ community beyond Pride on social media, there is little to no evidence of inclusion of people living with disabilities or a wide range of models with varying body types.
