Last Updated:
3/28/21 1:58 PM
overall rating:
do better
Zoom Video Communications
Internal Representation & Support
41%
Public Commitment
49%
External Communication
48%
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 the start of their DEI team in June 2020, Zoom has implemented many new programs, partnerships, and initiatives furthering racial justice. Zoom developed a series of ZoomTalks with TIME called Race in the Workplace, centering on anti-Blackness and racial inequality. They also had a series discussing voter rights, which was led by Black female artists. Another notable partnership is with HBCU Claflin University, providing Black students with scholarships, internships, and stronger program relationships/guidance between students and faculty. Though Zoom's social media content does not reflect this, they continue to uplift marginalized communities very thoughtfully and intentionally.
Lowlights
Most notably, in Spring 2020 Zoom dealt with serious issues of security and racist cyber attacks aimed towards Black and Jewish communities at various events (ie. college classes, PhD presentations). Zoom also initially responded to these issues by referring to these white supremacist cyber attackers as "party crashers," which people immediately called out (see sources below). During Summer 2020, Zoom had disabled their comments on Instagram after posting their response to BLM. There is also a lack of transparency around their employee demographics despite their small company. Though they have donated to a strong variety of orgs working towards racial justice, their donations have been extremely minimal (<0.001%).
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, 6% - 10% BIPOC, 11% - 20% Women
Executive Leadership:
6% - 7% Black, 36% - 40% BIPOC, 31% - 35% Women
Information not publicly available
Workforce:
An appointed DEI senior leader and/or a dedicated DEI organization, A Black employee resource group
DEI Support:
II. Public Commitment
Zoom Video Communications has pledged a donation of < 0.001% of annual revenue towards racial injustice, specifically for Black lives. Additionally, Zoom Video Communications has engaged in actions that advance racial justice and/or uplift BIPOC communities, such as partnerships with nonprofits or mission-based organizations, sponsorship of events, and co-branded partnerships with other companies.
III. External Communications
Zoom Video Communications has issued a public statement on social media addressing racial injustice The public statement acknowledged that they can be doing better to combat racial inequality within their company and included specific calls to action, but did not explicitly state "Black Lives Matter." Since June 2020, 10% - 20% of the brand's social media content has been centered around racial injustice with most posts falling flat and appearing unhelpful. 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+ community (beyond posting for Pride) or other marginalized communities.
