Erin Condren for Black Lives Matter
In EC for Change

Erin Condren for Black Lives Matter

By

Erin Condren stands behind the self-evident truth that Black lives matter. 

We stand in solidarity with our Black team members, partners and community against racism, violence, injustice, hate, division and systematic inequality. We’re committed to justice, to change, to action in support of righting wrongs against Black Americans that have gone on for far too long. 

The following was originally published June 10, 2020. As promised, we will regularly share updates on our progress in the “Updates” section of this post.

What We’re Doing About It

We are committed to fostering the very difficult conversations that must happen to address justice and equality, in our company and in our communities. We are committed to saying enough is enough. We are committed to educating ourselves and applying what we learn to effect change. Here is what we are doing:

Donations

We’re donating to UNCF, the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. In support of students and teachers in need, we are also organizing the distribution of planners and classroom supplies to schools in impacted areas. This is just the start. We are committed to real change; and real change does not happen overnight. We’re digging in for the long, uphill journey stretching before us all.

Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives 

Internally we have created a diversity, inclusion and equality team. We’re currently vetting mental health professionals to facilitate online workshops and office hours for healing and mental health support for our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) coworkers, as well as our coworkers living in impacted areas.

We strongly believe education is at the core of any development—personal, professional and societal. That’s why we are also hiring a social justice educator to facilitate a series of online workshops accessible to our entire team in an effort to learn, share and grow together.

Black Planner Content Creators to Follow 

To support and enjoy creative, motivational & resourceful planner content from our Black planner community on social, we recommend following:

Next Steps

We believe the best way to effect real change is to start with ourselves. Here are a few next steps regarding changes we are making moving forward:

  1. Increasing diversity representation across all brand platforms, including our website, blog, social channels, retail stores and events 
  2. Regularly gathering feedback from our diverse influencers on suggestions, opportunities and ideas of how our program can improve
  3. Re-evaluating our influencer product selections & shipments
  4. Helping more diverse voices in our influencer program gain more exposure by spotlighting their content

We are committed to listening and learning and are always open to any feedback, questions and concerns you have.

Updates

Explore All Updates

You can continue to follow all of our diversity, equity, and inclusion updates and actions at EC for Change.

January 18, 2021

You can read about our new Black History Month collection, which gives back to Black Girls Code and features four new artists, here.

December 29, 2020

You can view our CEO’s end-of-year message, including 2020 highlights, updates, and more here.

November 9, 2020

You can read our latest diversity, equity, and inclusion updates here.

October 19, 2020

You can read about our latest collection spotlighting Black artists here. 100% of the profit is split between the artists and social justice charities of their choice.

October 12, 2020

You can read about our Art Director of Product Aby Cortes and how diversity, equity, and inclusion are evolving our brand here.

September 14, 2020

You can read our latest diversity and inclusion updates here.

August 20, 2020

You can read about our new collection spotlighting Black artists here. 100% of the profit is split between the artists and social justice charities of their choice.

August 3, 2020

You can read our latest diversity and inclusion updates here.

July 20, 2020

You can read our July 20, 2020 diversity and inclusion updates here.

July 6, 2020

You can read our July 6, 2020 diversity and inclusion updates here.

June 25, 2020

To honor our commitment to transparency, action over words and staying accountable to our team, customers and community, we would like to share the following diversity data regarding our full-time team members (approximately 200 employees—this does not include part-time or hourly team members):

Our team is …

  • 50% Hispanic or Latino 
  • 27% White
  • 8% Black
  • 7% Asian
  • 3% Two or more races
  • 5% Prefers not to specify

We have been asked if all of the non-white team members are in production or the warehouse, and that is definitely not the case. The diversity data set above holds true throughout our corporate structure, until you hit our leadership team, which we’ll address in a moment.

As for our LA office team, which has no production or warehouse at all, it includes design, photo, video, marketing, web / eCommerce and our product development teams, one facilities team member and one administrative team member; and we are…

  • 49% Hispanic or Latino
  • 29% white
  • 9% Black
  • 11% Asian
  • 4% 2 or more races

Specifically, within our marketing and design teams: 

Our design team is … 

  • 33% Hispanic or Latino
  • 22% Black
  • 22% Asian
  • 11% two or more races 
  • 11% White 

Our marketing team is … 

  • 61% White
  • 13% Asian
  • 13% Hispanic or Latino
  • 13% two or more races 

From a benchmarking perspective, to compare us with other companies, most companies of our size in a similar industry are roughly 60% white, 8% black, 10% Hispanic or Latino, 13% Asian  (this is data provided by our payroll processing service).

Our current challenge, and one that is a primary focus, is within our leadership (i.e., Vice President and above). There, we are 85% female but 100% white. This is an area we are committed to improving.

We’ve also been asked about our Board of Directors. At this time, we do not have one; but we are in the process of forming one, and diversity will be a key priority.

We look forward to sharing more updates on our progress and what we’re doing to support Black Lives Matter and diversity & inclusion across our brand.

As we continue to listen and learn, we’re always open to any feedback, questions and concerns you have.

Comments are closed.