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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

While the issues of racial inequity and systemic racism are not unique to Houston, we have an opportunity as Houstonians to lead the way in reforming broken systems, partnering with communities, offering support and removing barriers. We often speak with pride of Houston being "America’s most diverse city." Now we must work to make Houston "America’s most inclusive and open city", one that does truly offer "opportunity for all." The Partnership and the 900 member companies and institutions we represent are committed to this endeavor.

One Houston Together is a data-driven effort of 100+ businesses, institutions, and nonprofit organizations to advance people of color into senior management roles, increase racial diversity on corporate boards, and grow spending with Minority Business Enterprises.

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Houston Regional Equity and Inclusion Assessment

The regional assessment is an important tool for business planning and advancing progress on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). In 2023, the Partnership will reopen the regional assessment from April 1 – June 15. The inaugural assessment was conducted in summer 2021. Please click the link for key findings, a list of 2021 participants, details on this year's assessment and the actual questions. 

Best Place for Working Parents Assessment

Houston has joined the national Best Place for Working Parents® partnership, offering real-time designations to businesses of all sizes whose family-friendly policies qualify through a first-of-its-kind, 3-minute online self assessment. 

Houston Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Impact Analysis

This report is a joint effort of the Greater Houston Partnership’s One Houston Together and the Houston Minority Supplier Development Council (HMSDC). The following tables summarize the economic impact of HMSDC-certified Minority Businesses Enterprises in the nine-county Houston MSA. While there are many other MBEs throughout the region, HMSDC data is used as a proxy to estimate the growing economic impact of MBEs across our region.

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Racial Equity Principles

The Partnership’s Racial Equity Principles are a framework to communicate the Houston business community’s pledge to reforming systems of bias, strengthening underserved communities, advocating inclusion, and removing barriers to achievement. Although many businesses have made their own individual statements and pledges, this unified approach sends an important signal about the Houston business community’s collective commitment. The Principles articulate how the Partnership and individual businesses can commit to advancing racial equity within their organizations and throughout our community.

Racial Equity Committee

In 2020, the Partnership established a board committee to guide the organization's actions in addressing racial equity and racial justice issues in Houston. The mission of the Racial Equity Committee is to harness the collective commitment and resources of Houston’s businesses and institutions to advance bold solutions to strengthen Houston as the most diverse, inclusive and equitable city in the United States.

This committee operates at the level of our two other “board-member only” direction-setting committees, the Public Policy Steering and Economic Development Steering committees. The committee is currently co-chaired by Gretchen Watkins, President of Shell Oil Co., and Melanie Johnson, President and CEO of Collaborative for Children. Click the link below for the full roster of committee members.

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One Houston Together Overview

Download this PDF for an overview of the activity and goals of the Partnership's One Houston Together effort. 

Racial Equity Conversations

Understanding Racism

Defining and understanding systemic and individual racism.

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Education and Racial Inequities

How does race affect the educational opportunities afforded to individuals and communities in the Houston area? What can we do to ensure quality education is accessible to all?

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Health and Racial Inequities

A look at why race-based disparities remain in outcomes, access, cost and quality of care.

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Developing Equitable Communities

Today, a person’s zip code remains one of the best indicators of their health and wealth. But there are renewed efforts to close the gaps in equity in our region’s communities.

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The Business Community's Role in Addressing Racial Inequities

What can individual companies and the broader corporate community do to help eliminate racial disparities?

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2021 SXSW

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Conversations

The Greater Houston Partnership presented Houston House during the 2021 SXSW virtual conference. The event featured candid conversations around a series of topics including innovation, the future of energy and DEI. 

Member Case Studies and Conversations

How 3 Companies are Advancing DEI in Houston

How are local business leaders working to advance diversity, equity and inclusion within their companies and what is the Partnership doing through One Houston Together to help guide that work?

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Member Spotlight on Sodexo's Roadmap to Global Inclusion; Updated MBE Analysis for Houston

Mia Mends is the Global Chief DEI Officer and CEO of Impact Ventures at Sodexo, an international facilities management and food services company with 420,000 employees worldwide.

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How 2 Organizations are Building a Sustainable Process for Hiring Diversity

The Partnership’s One Houston Together Talent Roundtable gathers the region’s leading employers to share best practices and tools for advancing talent diversity in deliberate and measurable ways.

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Driving Action to Advance Inclusion and Strategic Talent Development and Retention

How does a global company launch an effective diversity and inclusion strategy from the ground up? And what does outside-the-box thinking look like when it comes to education benefits that significantly move the needle on talent retention?

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Member Spotlight on JPMorgan Chase's $30B Commitment to Racial Equity

As part of its ongoing effort to showcase success in supplier diversity, the Partnership’s One Houston Together initiative hosted its latest roundtable discussion in late April featuring a case study with financial services firm JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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Key Articles

10 Proven Actions to Advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Bain & Company
Bain’s research finds evidence that 10 specific tactics—some common, others underused—are particularly effective at advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

Amplified Calls for Racial Equity Need Amplified Responses, Boston Consulting Group
Despite efforts to promote equity, many employees say companies haven’t done enough. Creating an equitable environment goes beyond hiring a diverse team—and benefits the entire company. 

Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case, Robin J. Ely and David A. Thomas, Harvard Business Review
This argues that to fully benefit from increased racial and gender diversity, organizations must adopt a learning orientation and be willing to change the corporate culture and power structure.

Leading on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, PwC
Learn how a DEI data focus can help corporate directors oversee DEI progress.

The Curb-Cut Effect, Angela Glover Blackwell, Stanford Innovation Review 
Laws and programs designed to benefit vulnerable groups, such as the disabled or people of color, often end up benefiting all of society.
 

Houston Demographics

Greater Houston Basic Demographics

A look at the Houston population by race, ethnicity, age, education and other factors.

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Urban Disparity

The Kinder Institute examines gaps in income, educational attainment, neighborhood services and other metrics and their impact on opportunity.

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Understanding Houston

Understanding Houston aggregates data across multiple sources to provide an accessible, one-stop platform for understanding key quality of life issues in Houston’s three most populous counties.

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Related News

Racial Equity

3 Actions for Companies Developing Supplier Diversity Programs

9/7/23
Developing and sustaining a successful supplier diversity program requires intentionality, accountability, data, and resources. This was one of the key takeaways from the Greater Houston Partnership’s first interactive program that aims to improve outcomes for Minority Business Enterprises. Improving outcomes for Minority Business Enterprises is one of the two priorities of One Houston Together alongside talent advancement and board representation for people of color.  The Partnership hosted its first Supplier Diversity Innovation Lab designed for members responsible for purchasing, supplier diversity and supply chain. Attendees represented seven industries including administrative and support services, energy, health care and life sciences, higher education, manufacturing, professional services, and real estate.  Partnership Executive Partner JPMorgan Chase shared how the firm is harnessing its business, policy, philanthropy, and data expertise to reduce the racial wealth gap in Black, Hispanic, and Latino communities through its Global Supplier Diversity program. The company also shared tactics and best practices that help them meet business goals and promote economic growth.   Featured presenters Jim Flynn, Executive Director of Global Supplier Diversity at JPMorgan, and Nancy Minchillo, Vice President of Global Supplier Diversity at JPMorgan Chase, shared three key actions for companies at the early stage of developing supplier diversity programs.   Understand Your Data  “You need to know who you’re working with and what you’re buying,” Minchillo said. She encourages companies to dive deep into the data to allow for greater alignment with business goals and expectations. According to Minchillo, companies should understand their suppliers, capabilities, spend and whether there is room for growth.  Incorporate a “Now, Near and Far” Strategy  One of the strategies JPMorgan’s Global Supplier Diversity team applies is identifying what it can do for MBEs depending on the MBEs’ needs and their stage of growth.   Companies looking to increase their spend with MBEs should focus on immediate, near-term and long-term goals as well as on the company’s growth plan to ensure that goals are achieved for both the company and the MBE.  Flynn said increasing diverse spend should be a “multiprong diverse approach” that partners with procurement divisions to ensure a pipeline of prospects.   Be Intentional and Deliberate  Incorporating a business partner diversity strategy versus the traditional supplier diversity approach has also been key for JPMorgan’s success. The business partner diversity strategy allows for a more intentional and holistic approach to a supplier diversity program.    Flynn and Minchillo reminded Partnership members that success does not happen overnight when it comes to starting or expanding a program to grow spend with MBEs. Change happens gradually but it does happen, and JPMorgan Chase provides a roadmap that can help other Partnership members chart their course.  Learn more about the Partnership’s supplier diversity efforts by contacting Damean Townsend, Senior Director of Supplier Diversity. 
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Racial Equity

One Houston Together: Accelerating Minority Business Growth

7/21/23
Minority Business Enterprises are vital to local and national economies. In the Houston region, certified minority businesses support more than 70,000 jobs and generated $14 billion in economic activity in 2020.  In May during the Partnership’s One Houston Together Supplier Diversity Roundtable, Darrin Redus, CEO of Cincinnati Minority Business Accelerator, highlighted the accelerator’s success and innovative practices that are delivering significant results for minority business enterprises (MBEs). Increasing spending with MBEs is one of two priorities of One Houston Together alongside talent advancement and increasing racial diversity on boards.   The Cincinnati business accelerator was founded in 2003 to address the racial disparities in business ownership in the Cincinnati region, drive economic activity and increase employment in underemployed segments. The accelerator works primarily with mid-cap and large-cap corporations to create jobs in the region through their collective commitment to minority spend and to help the companies meet their supplier diversity and inclusion goals by connecting to minority-owned companies. To date, the accelerator has supported 70 companies with average annual revenues of $30 million. The program centers around four strategic pillars: Grow, Build, Attract and Create. Grow existing portfolio firms to the next level. Build emerging minority businesses under the $1 million threshold with high growth potential. Attract large-scale MBEs to the region. The focus is more on expansion and identifying sizeable MBEs in specific industries that corporate partners can incentivize to expand to the Cincinnati region. Create MBEs via the acquisition of existing, mainstream non-minority firms. For example, aging businesses with no succession plan. The program isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, instead, it provides customized analysis, resources and funding to grow the MBE over time, never graduating them from the program, unlike other accelerator programs. “Ultimately, everything that we do with these companies is rooted in the financial assessment because, without that, you’re somewhat flying blind,” Redus said. Within three to five years, the MBEs are able to double their revenue due to how the program is structured, according to Redus.  Another innovative practice the Cincinnati Minority Business Accelerator has launched is the MBA Fund 1, which provides access to equity and growth capital for Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs for scalable business ventures. Mainstream businesses lacking succession plans are the primary investment target followed by existing minority firms that require growth equity and emerging minority firms. The Cincinnati model provides a proven roadmap to scale high-growth minority businesses and is instructive for companies and economic development organizations.  To learn more about the Partnership’s supplier diversity efforts, members should join our roundtable and participate in the upcoming Supplier Diversity Innovation Lab on August 24, 2023. Contact Damean Townsend, Senior Director, Supplier Diversity, for more information.
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Related Events

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Houston DiverseCity Summit

Early-bird pricing ends Friday, September 22! The Houston DiverseCity Summit is more than an event, it is an interactive experience catalyzing change, inspiring action and supporting companies…

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