For over a century, Condé Nast has stood for excellence. We’ve embraced innovation, celebrated creativity, and relentlessly sought out stories that demand to be told. And, in this new era of our company, we’ve made it our mission to not simply reflect the culture in which we live, but to help shape that culture with the intention that it should be equitable, inclusive and moving the world forward. The systemic structures of racism and discrimination that many face are unnacceptable and we are committed to doing everything in our power to dismantle them.
With offices in 32 markets around the world and a global footprint that reaches over 1 billion people each month through content published in 26 languages, we are an inherently multicultural organization. Together, we continually strive to serve the widest global audience possible, and this can only be done when our people reflect and represent the world around us. Our aim is to ensure that people of all backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences are represented in every facet of our business.
This first annual Diversity & Inclusion Report offers a mid-year snapshot of the people and practices that are at the heart of everything we do. The report is meant to provide a summary of where we are today, as well as the start of a blueprint for how we will continue to improve. The events of the last few months, within our company and around the world, have made it clear how much work we have to do. We understand that everyone experiences our workplace differently. I appreciate those of you who have shared your suggestions about how to address those differences and build our channels of trust. It’s my hope that this report helps clearly outline some of the steps we will take together to be accountable to our goals and values.
In gathering this data for the first time, you’ll see that we have one of the largest female-identifying workforces (as a percentage of its total) in all of media. Additionally, we are able to see progress this year in our hiring of people from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds when compared to our total U.S. workforce. The commitments made in this report give specific tactics and an unwavering mandate that will ensure we are building on this progress together. There is no other option.
Inclusive teams strengthen the quality of our journalism, impacting the ways our audiences understand and see themselves in the world. In the thousands of pieces of content we publish every day, we bring a passion and point of view that is driven by who we are as individuals in the collective whole. A few outstanding examples include GQ’s Change is Good, the brand’s first-ever global collaboration and manifesto focused on diversity, gender equality, sustainability and mental health, and Vogue Mexico’s Voces de Cambio, a video series highlighting the stories of Mexican and Latin American women who have vocally addressed issues of representation and diversity in their fields. One of our newest and fastest growing brands, them., exemplifies how our desire to meet today’s audience where they are drove us to create one of the only platforms solely dedicated to seeing the world through an LGBTQ+ lens. These and many more examples can be seen in this report, which show our brands are united under a common mission.
As Condé Nast continues to come together as one global company and as we redefine what it means to create and publish content, a strong culture led by diverse teams is a priority in our evolution. To start, over the last year I've been focused on building an executive leadership team that can lead the industry in representation. It's my priority that this team reflects, as best we can, not only our employee composition, but also our aspirations of where we want it to be. We've moved the needle quickly and in the last year doubled the number of women on this team to 60%. In addition, 30% identify as LGBTQ+ and 20% are of racially diverse backgrounds. Our composition at this most senior level is key because this group will be building the teams and making the decisions for our company that will define us for decades to come.
Beyond diversity in our workforce composition, fostering inclusivity is of equal importance as we provide channels and opportunity for everyone to contribute to the success of our business. Employee-led groups like our Global Employee Council for Diversity & Inclusion and employee resource groups (ERGs) are pivotal to building our culture, enhancing our community and providing professional growth opportunities. Since launching these initiatives in 2019 and 2018, respectively, over 1,100 employees have participated and we continue to see interest grow.
The data in this report will be updated in January so that it provides a comprehensive look at our efforts in 2020. Thank you for your support and collaboration. There’s so much more to come.