Tommy Preston, Jr. (right) meeting with Boeing Thurgood Marshall Scholars during a visit to Boeing South Carolina
pre-COVID-19. Since 2018, Boeing has invested more than $10 million in Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCU) partnerships and developed programs that have increased HBCU intern hiring by more than 400%.
Boeing has a long-standing commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion which is evident in our diverse hiring and pipeline programs, community investments, and enduring support of historically Black colleges and universities. And still, the murder of George Floyd and other race-based hate crimes led us to look inward to have difficult, yet necessary, open and candid conversations about whether we are doing enough to confront the challenges perpetuated by racism in our society. It’s a question that I and my colleagues have taken to heart as we strive to advance meaningful and enduring progress for our company.
With roughly 140,000 team members across the globe, Boeing has a responsibility to advance equity, diversity and inclusion on a broad scale. For more than a year, we’ve taken purposeful and more visible steps forward, including releasing our first Global Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Report, which shows where we stand currently and holds us accountable for making progress toward our goals.
Achieving progress requires working with our teammates to shape a culture where everyone is included, valued, respected and supported in reaching their full potential. As a founding member and co-chair of Boeing’s Racial Equity Task Force, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside dedicated colleagues who partner with Boeing’s Global Equity, Diversity & Inclusion team and Executive Council to drive systemic inclusion and racial equity outcomes. Our work to date has focused on strengthening the Black experience across the company, deepening employees’ understanding of how to effectively interrupt bias and improving retention of underrepresented employees.
Our efforts are amplified by passionate teammates who are involved in business resource groups – employee-led organizations centered on particular experiences or traits such as ethnicity, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status. They serve as essential partners in our equity plan as well as an invaluable channel to elevate the voices of our diverse workforce.
Boeing employees Tommy Preston, Jr. (left) and Lindsay Leonard (second from left) and Boeing South Carolina site leader Lane Ballard (right) accept the 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Corporate Award from S.C. Racial Justice Network. The organization chose Boeing as last year’s award recipient, in part, because of the company’s commitment to growing a diverse and inclusive workforce, educational outreach and volunteer initiatives in minority communities.
As the new leader of our company’s Ethics organization, I am working with our global team to foster a more inclusive culture at Boeing where every teammate is empowered to speak up. This begins by ensuring that our values of safety, quality and integrity are at the heart of everything we do, as well as inclusion and transparency. We do this each day through the engagement of Ethics professionals at our sites, our training for all employees to recommit to our company values, and the signing of our annual Boeing Code of Conduct which outlines the expected behaviors every team member is accountable for demonstrating. In addition, we are building “Seek, Speak & Listen” habits which enable teammates to successfully identify, challenge and change behaviors in the workplace for the benefit of all.
With a goal of raising awareness around our values, we also started a new Ethics Ambassador program, which trains emerging leaders at Boeing sites to listen to employees’ ideas or concerns and elevate issues for quicker resolution while enhancing understanding about the integral role our values play in our daily responsibilities. Since the launch of our pilot program at our Philadelphia site in April 2021, ambassadors have connected with hundreds of employees, sharing information with them about our compliance and ethics program and how to report concerns.
Harnessing the collective power of our team as a force for positive change extends to the communities where we live and work. Boeing has augmented its existing commitment to advance social justice in our communities by investing at least $25 million in nonprofit organizations that advance equity by 2023. We also began a $1.5 million partnership with Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina, to establish the Boeing Institute on Civility, which will serve as a national hub to advance civil discourse and equip leaders to engage in respectful dialogue about relevant issues.
While this forward momentum is encouraging, there is still much work to be done. I am proud that Boeing is committed to leading with our values as we continue this important work within our company and in the communities we support.
Learn more at Boeing.com.
