Southern Company signs the Hispanic Promise

Earlier this month, Southern Company signed the Hispanic Promise, an initiative of the We Are All Human Foundation. The Promise is the first-of-its-kind national pledge to hire, promote, retain and celebrate Hispanics in the workplace.

Launched at the World Economic Forum in 2019, the Hispanic Promise is a non-legally binding sign of intention which serves as a call to action for business leaders and companies in corporate America to create a more inclusive work environment for Hispanic and Latinx employees. The Promise also represents an opportunity for companies who are already engaged in inclusion and diversity to showcase their commitment as a Hispanic-friendly employer.

The first annual Hispanic Sentiment Study was conducted in August 2018 by the We Are All Human Foundation in order to measure U.S. Hispanic sentiment on the political, business and educational landscapes, as well as on personal values. An alarming 77 percent of respondents were unaware of recent accomplishments achieved by the Hispanic community across the country. And despite serving as a major source of U.S. labor, 74 percent of U.S. Hispanics feel they cannot be themselves at work.

The Hispanic Promise encourages companies to solidify their relationships with the Hispanic communities they serve, and to better leverage the potential of those communities in the workplace. The complete Hispanic Promise is as follows:

• We promise to create inclusive environments within the workplace and to take positive intentional actions to hire, promote, retain, develop and celebrate Hispanics as employees, customers and citizens.
• We aim to create or strengthen employee engagement, mentorship programs, employee or business resource groups, talent advancement and an inclusive company culture where employees feel they belong, are valued and have a voice.
• We acknowledge the priorities selected by Hispanic Leaders under the Vision 2020, which include access to education, financial empowerment and improving the image of Hispanics.
• As a result, we aim to increase the number of Hispanic employees in our company to better reflect the U.S. population, increase Hispanic representation in all levels and all functions of our company, and assess the sentiment of Hispanics in our company.