Trillium Files Board Executive Committee Diversity Proposal at Alphabet

January 8, 2018 Update: Read recent coverage on the shareholder proposal on Quartz, an Atlantic Media publication.

This September, Trillium Asset Management filed a shareholder proposal, on behalf of the Global Fund for Women and Maine Women’s Fund, at Google parent company Alphabet, asking it to make its executive committee more diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender.
As the first major Silicon Valley technology company to release diversity statistics in 2014, the company has gone to great lengths to demonstrate its desire to address its diversity challenges. These efforts include unconscious bias training aimed at improving hiring programs, inclusion policies and practices, education outreach, and community relations. However, these efforts do not appear to be enough and the company has been unable to make satisfactory improvements. As Google reports, the participation of Hispanic employees in its workforce rose 1% from the previous year to 4%. While black employees comprise 5% of non-tech positions, a one percent year over year increase, black employees still represent just 2% of its total U.S. workforce, unchanged from 2015 and 2014. Women represent 31% of Google’s global workforce, unchanged from a year ago and up just one percent since 2014.
We believe that the Alphabet Board can provide greater leadership and guidance to management as it expands diversity and equality within the Company. We also believe that the Alphabet Board should take further steps to demonstrate a clear and powerful resolve to address this challenge.

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For more information: Caroline White, Communications Manager, cwhite[at]trilliuminvest.com

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