What it takes to truly advance equity and inclusive prosperity

Deeply rooted inequities in our society impact all of us, and as such, the challenges they create are too big for any entity to address alone. As Deloitte, one of the largest professional services organizations, we believe we have the ability, and frankly, responsibility, to establish the model for how businesses can combine their resources with inputs from the community to create long-term change.

To help channel our focus, Deloitte US launched its Purpose Office in March 2021, led by Chief Purpose Officer, Kwasi Mitchell with the vision of building the trust needed to create an equitable environment and eliminate systemic inequities surrounding us. As such, our firm recently made a $1.5 Billion social impact investment over the next ten years focused on increasing social and economic mobility for those facing the biggest barriers to equity and prosperity.

With the belief that we will achieve greater impact and results by making sustained investments in fewer, more impactful projects in the communities in which we live and work, Deloitte identified three key pillars to drive systemic change – education and workforce development, financial inclusion, and health equity. I am proud of our work in supporting strategic initiatives and working alongside organizations in the broader ecosystem that are proximate to these issues to best contribute to long-term and systemic change that best supports those who are underserved.

For example:

• Our collaboration with OneTen, within our education and workforce development pillar, gathers more than 70 employers committed to helping hire, promote and advance 1 million Black Americans without a four-year college degree into family-sustaining careers by 2030.
• As part of our financial inclusion pillar, our work with the BEA Foundation harnesses the collective expertise of Black business leaders to drive economic prosperity and generational wealth-building for the Black community.
• In our collaboration with Black Directors Health Equity Agenda (BDHEA), we have the privilege of working closely with senior leaders across the healthcare ecosystem and adjacent industries to help advance health equity in the Boardroom.

• Our commitment to Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), additionally will help drive efforts related to workforce development and maternity care. With Deloitte Health Equity Institute (DHEI) involvement, the focus will be on addressing the underlying causes of health inequities, including the lack of representation among care providers and the need for new, innovative models to advance health equity for racially and ethnically diverse women.

The responsibility of business leaders is to ask ourselves what it truly takes to advance equity and inclusive prosperity for all if we want to make a lasting impact and change lives. Given the breadth and depth of Deloitte's experience, we believe we are positioned to help catalyze this systematic change.

Learn more about our Social Impact Investments here.