Clorox : Our Commitment to a More Just and Inclusive World

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Our Commitment to a More Just and Inclusive World

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June 17, 2021

By Linda Rendle, CEO

As we approach Juneteenth, the annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S., I've been thinking a lot about the tumultuous year we've experienced since the tragic murder of George Floyd. We still have such a long way to go to achieve racial justice and equity. But I'm hopeful that we've reached an inflection point thanks to the raised consciousness of more people who've lent their voice and taken action against systemic racism.

A year ago, like many companies across the U.S., Clorox committed to standing stronger for the Black community to confront the systemic racial injustices that have afflicted our nation for generations. We said we needed to do more and we needed to be better in participating in the fight against racism and inequality. And I'm proud that the business community at large has stepped up, realizing the critical role we play to achieve a more just society. It is our responsibility to contribute toward the greater good. And at Clorox, that starts with our purpose to champion people to be well and thrive every single day.

Last year, we said that we would donate $2.5 million through The Clorox Company Foundation, focusing on three areas:

• Supporting Black businesses in our communities impacted by recent events
• Engaging Black youth who represent our future
• Accelerating Black community access to justice and criminal justice reform

In addition, we said that we would take action in several ways:

• Increase our spending with minority- and women-owned businesses
• Double our investment to address conscious and unconscious bias
• Materially increase our recruiting focus on underserved communities
• Have our executive team members volunteer with organizations that fight for equality and justice

Some highlights of our progress include:

• Our $2.5M donation commitment to racial justice led to grants being made to all 27 U.S. Clorox locations, with a focus on Oakland and Atlanta, where we have the most employees. We also enabled our Employee Resource Groups to make a total of 45 grants to racial justice organizations of their choice.
• We increased our spending with minority- and women-owned businesses by $10 million or 5.4%.
• We more than doubled our Breaking Bias training, with approximately 75% of our employees joining the first training session.
• We increased recruiting of minority candidates:
  • 27% increase in Black/African American applicants
  • 43% increase in Hispanic/Latinx applicants
  • 18% increase in Asian applicants

Another important aspect of racial justice is inclusion & diversity in the workplace. Recently, I renewed our pledge to the CEO Action for Diversity. I'm personally committed to advancing inclusion and diversity at Clorox. It's integrated into our IGNITE business strategy and core to our values as a company. This begins with recruiting more diverse talent and building an inclusive culture where people can be their best selves every day. It ends with equity for all of our employees.

Of course, there is more work to do. And we have a lot to make up for. We are committed to doing the hard work to get there. Together.

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