Let’s Change – An update for our customers and colleagues

This past June, H&M Group made a commitment to support all of our colleagues and communities in the work to end racism and discrimination in all forms. We pledged to stand with and support the Black community and other underrepresented groups and to use our resources to further support Inclusion & Diversity in everything we do. Today we want to offer our customers and colleagues an update on our progress.

 

In July, we posted the group’s US employee diversity demographics to our H&M Careers page to help us reflect on where we stand in terms of diversity and inclusion in our workplace.  Beyond sharing this data, we have also made specific commitments to support this important work within our organization which includes trainings and development programs, choosing diverse partners across our business and engaging with our communities through charitable initiatives and partnerships that champion change.

 

We pledged $750,000 to date to help support this work and have collaborated with leading organizations driving progress and real change. These include:

 

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund (NAACP LDF). This partnership will offer all H&M Group employees curated future trainings and resources to build awareness and advocate for underrepresented groups.

 

 The National Action Network (NAN), a leading civil rights organization. H&M Group launched a partnership which offers our teams the ability to channel their activism and elevate their cultural awareness through action. Through the partnership, H&M Group supported the 2020 March on Washington, and offered our teams the opportunity to participate in the H&M Group employee-driven virtual walk, Movement 4 the Movement, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech and the accompanying march that took place 57 years ago.

 

 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). H&M supported the ACLU’s efforts to ensure that everyone can exercise their right to vote. This included highlighting the ACLU’s voting rights campaign, making sure everyone understands their rights as a voter and makes a plan to vote. H&M US further committed to voter rights by amplifying the ACLU’s message through in-store signage, H&M’s channels, and internal education for staff, as well as paid time off for all employees to go out and vote in the 2020 election.

 

 The National Urban League (NUL). To further our community work and grow diversity within our organization, we have committed a portion of the donation funds to support NUL’s programs that offer skills and education around access to jobs, how to grow careers and self-development.

 

 This holiday season, H&M and Billy Porter partnered with The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people. H&M’s donation will support their mission to provide free services to Every Single One of the LGBTQ youth who are in need of help. H&M’s contribution will help The Trevor Project to grow their free and confidential crisis services to meet the increased demand caused by the COVID-19 crisis. This includes recruiting and training thousands of additional crisis counseling volunteers, building technological infrastructure that allows The Trevor Project  to scale rapidly while maintaining and improving their high quality of care, and doing outreach to diverse communities to ensure every single LGBTQ young person — including the many Black and Latinx LGBTQ youth who need them — knows that The Trevor Project is there for them.

 

Through our H&M Member program, we have initiated a series of year-long loyalty partnerships highlighting select Black-owned businesses and causes.

 

We have established a sponsorship and sourcing program with Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) to increase support and implementation of a talent pipeline from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

 

We are thrilled to announce the official launch of a new leadership development program for our talented Store Managers called LEAD (Learn, Educate, Accelerate and Develop). This exciting new program will intently provide access, resources and development to prepare Store Managers for future senior-level roles at H&M USA.

 

In order to continue and accelerate H&M USA’s Inclusion & Diversity journey, we are taking a fresh approach to how we support the development of our diverse colleagues to management level positions. LEAD will focus on internal talent who self-identify from underrepresented groups, demonstrate leadership potential and have the passion to keep growing with H&M. LEAD will act as a catalyst in continuing our commitment to building a long-term, sustainable and diverse talent pipeline for many years to come.

 

Our participating Store Managers will transition through an accelerated one-year learning and development program where they will be matched with mentors and coaches from the H&M USA organization. These key relationships will help to further cultivate their skills in areas like communication, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, engagement, business acumen, motivation and more. Through LEAD , we are investing in our colleagues’ continued development and growth while building more diversely represented future leadership teams at H&M USA. 

 

 

The above list is not exhaustive, and we will continue to work to create meaningful, long-term change.  We are committed to partnering with and highlighting minority-owned businesses and increasing opportunities to collaborate with agencies, creatives and influencers of color.