Conservatives love to use the term “Go woke and go broke”, but a new study shows that the opposite may be true. Research by the Human Rights Campaign and Whistle Stop Capital that analyzed nearly two decades worth of data from HRC’s Corporate Equality Index and corporate earnings shows that companies that embrace DEI are more profitable than companies that don’t.
The analysis demonstrates that companies with high CEI scores saw greater cumulative revenue growth than low-scoring companies over a 15-year period. Over a 10-year period, top-scoring companies reported average net income more than eight times higher than their lowest-scoring peers. Additionally, higher CEI scores were linked to greater gross profit and more stable share price performance, suggesting more consistent, long-term investor confidence. Whistle Stop Capital founder Meredith Benton said of the findings:
“The data supports a thesis that we consider intuitive: companies don’t grow by excluding talent or consumers. Those companies with long-term high CEI scores are seeing the benefits of a virtuous cycle: Companies with strong relationships to the Pride community have built valuable workplace cultures, reputations, and brands over time.”
HRC President Kelley Robinson said:
“This new data confirms what we have long known: Fairness and inclusion power innovation and growth. That’s why the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index was born more than 20 years ago. When businesses embrace LGBTQ+ equality in their policies and practices, they’re not just doing the right thing for their employees and consumers – they’re positioning themselves to outperform, out-innovate, and outlast their competitors.”
Queer News Tonight proposes that the new saying should be, “Ditch DEI and watch your company die.”
