NOD Collaborates with Ascend, ALPFA, Catalyst, The Conference Board, MLT, NABA, NCAI, Out & Equal and Tanenbaum on COVID-19 Action Response

Apr 30, 2020

NEW YORK, April 30, 2020 – Collectively our ten organizations are leading conveners for business leaders in championship for diverse communities: Pan-Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, women, LGBTQ, Native Americans, persons with disabilities and employees of all and no faiths. We redouble on our mission of promoting inclusion and stand together in collaboration to address the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. While low-wage earners are particularly vulnerable during this public health and economic crisis, the coronavirus outbreak has also claimed disproportionate numbers of lives in communities of color and gave rise to a surge of anti-Asian sentiment.

We call on our members, partners and associates to join us along with the growing list of Supporting Companies in affirming the following 5-Point Action Agenda:

• Promote Inclusion: Advocate for a diverse and inclusive workplace and society
• Raise Awareness: Highlight the unique impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups
• Denounce Bias: Encourage individuals to report virus-linked discriminatory acts against Pan-Asians and other targeted groups and communities in the workplace and in public
• Support Communities: Contribute time, knowledge and / or other resources to aid frontline workers, COVID-19 victims and families
• Give Donations: Provide funds and / or other resources to support vulnerable populations of people and impacted businesses

Finding sustainable solutions to the current public health, social and economic challenges is a global imperative. Discrimination targeted at Pan-Asians in forms of shunning, harassment and assaults impedes our ability to stem the spread of the pandemic. About 20% of U.S. healthcare workers are immigrants; 17% of doctors in the U.S. are of Asian descent, while people of all backgrounds work to save lives on the frontline. Discriminatory threats against any first responders also put at risk the patients they serve and delay finding a cure for the disease. Pan-Asians and our diverse communities are an integral part of the solutions to this global crisis.

Heeding historical precedents for scapegoating marginalized groups for diseases and economic instability, our organizations are working together to combat anti-Asian stigma and all forms of bias based on age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation and veteran status. We will continue to advance best practices to safeguard protections for Pan-Asians and other marginalized employee segments. These efforts also include working with key coalitions such as CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion to advance awareness and education of bias at the highest levels of the business community.

We recognize the fight against the current pandemic requires a whole-of-society approach. We urge supporters to engage in our programming, share widely our 5-Point Action Agenda and resource materials. Post-COVID-19 recovery will require the collective capacities, knowledge, skills and resources of our organizations. Almost 200 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville observed that the success of America’s experiment is our exceptional belief in the “common good.” We are all in this together; now more than ever, we need to ascend to the challenges before us and rebuild a whole post-crisis world. Together, our organizations and Supporting Companies will act to catalyze progress for our resilient future. #AscendTogether

Anna W. Mok
President, Ascend
www.ascendleadership.org

Damian Rivera
CEO, ALPFA
www.alpfa.org

Lorraine Hariton
President & CEO, Catalyst
www.catalyst.org

Steve Odland
President & CEO, The Conference Board
www.conference-board.org/us/

John Rice
CEO & Founder, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)
mlt.org

Walter J. Smith, CPA
President and CEO, National Association of Black Accountants (NABA, Inc.)
www.nabainc.org

Fawn R. Sharp
President, National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
www.ncai.org

Carol Glazer
President, National Organization on Disability
www.nod.org

Erin Uritus
CEO, Out & Equal
outandequal.org

Joyce S. Dubensky, Esq.
CEO, Tanenbaum
tanenbaum.org

COVID-19 Action Response

Supporting Companies (04272020)

• Adobe
• Alix Partners
• American Airlines
• American Express
• AT&T
• Aviation Capital Group
• Bank of America
• Bayer
• BBVA
• BDO USA LLP
• BNY Mellon
• Boeing
• Capgemini
• Capital One
• The Carlyle Group
• Cisco
• The Coca Cola Company
• CohnReznick
• Cox Enterprises
• Deloitte
• Deutsche Bank USA Corp
• The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC)
• DLA Piper
• DSM
• E4H Architecture
• East West Bank
• Equilar
• Expedia Group
• Experian
• EY
• Facebook
• Goldman Sachs & Co.
• Google
• The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• IBM
• Intel
• Interpublic Group | IPG
• JP Morgan Chase
• KPMG
• Legg Mason
• Loblaw Companies Ltd.
• Lockheed Martin Corporation
• L’Oréal USA
• Lululemon
• Manulife & John Hancock
• Marriott
• MassMutual
• McCormick & Company
• Medtronic
• Mercedes-Benz, USA
• Merck
• MetLife
• Micro Focus
• Misumi USA
• Morgan Stanley
• NBA
• Novartis
• Panasonic
• PepsiCo
• Pfizer
• PIMCO
• Procter & Gamble
• Protiviti
• Prudential Financial
• PSE&G
• Publicis Groupe
• PwC
• RBC
• Sanofi
• Scotiabank
• Sodexo
• Sun Life
• Synchrony
• TPG
• Uber
• Under Armour
• U.S. Bank
• U.S. Steel
• WNBA

Learn More + Get Involved

• Ascend Consortium’s Joint Announcement
• Join the Action
• Use the #AscendTogether hashtag to show your support on social media