Equity in action
A message from Kwasi Mitchell, chief purpose and diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, Deloitte US, and Denise Shepherd, diversity, equity, and inclusion leader, Deloitte US
Publishing our inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Transparency Report in 2021 was an important step in our commitment to equity and to creating transparency and trust with our people and communities. Since then, we have made significant progress toward our aspirations, including improving workforce representation, supporting career advancement, and investing in talent engagement.
Equity and equality: A distinct difference
Understanding equity, and how it differs from equality, is fundamental to making true progress and acknowledging where we have the opportunity to make systemic change. Equity is the outcome of diversity, inclusion, and anti-bias actions wherein all people have fair access, opportunity, resources, and power to thrive, with consideration for, and/or elimination of, historical and systemic barriers that have existed in society. Equality, by comparison, is when all people are treated identically, without consideration for historical and systemic barriers and advantages.
Deloitte’s commitment to equity takes multiple forms. We apply an equity lens across our talent life cycle, reviewing our operational processes and decision-making to drive equitable outcomes for our workforce. We also create and gather insights from external research and collaborate with other organizations on emerging DEI topics to increase their visibility. We leverage internal capabilities to catalyze the growth of diverse businesses, and we focus our social impact efforts around health equity, education and workforce development, and financial inclusion—all to further change at systemic, community, and individual levels.
Accountability is an accelerator of our holistic DEI strategy and journey, and we are proud to present a transparent look at our progress against our aspirations this past year. Since 2020, female1 and racial and/or ethnic diversity2 has increased across our total workforce and at the partner, principal, and managing director (PPMD) level. Within the contexts of FY2023, we saw drops in representation among some of our racially and ethnically diverse cohorts. We are committed to continuing to hold ourselves accountable to share both successes and challenges, and to act in those areas where greater action is needed to reach our aspirations. We also plan to refresh our aspirational goals in the next iteration of the DEI Transparency Report in acknowledgment of the progress that we’ve made as well as where we still have work to do on our equity journey.
We want to recognize the pivotal role our people play in our progress. They support our mission by putting DEI at the forefront of their work, being allies in our communities, and advocating for change at Deloitte and in society. We collectively help create an environment where our people feel they belong and are celebrated and valued.
Yours in advocacy and allyship,
Kwasi Mitchell
Chief Purpose & DEI Officer
Deloitte US
Denise Shepherd
DEI Leader
Deloitte US
- On the use of sex and gender: In this report, our goals and workforce data reflect sex given that gender self-identification was not available at the time we established the goals in 2020. We recognize that not all people’s gender identities match their sex assigned at birth. In 2021, we launched new gender fields in addition to sex, with expanded self-identification options to reflect a wider array of gender identities. Goals and associated workforce data will be revisited during the refresh process. ↵
- Diverse racial and/or ethnic groups include Asian; Indigenous to the Americas; Black; Middle Eastern/North African/Near Eastern; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; multiracial; and professionals whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latinx. ↵