The Diversity Action Alliance (DAA), a coalition of public relations and communications leaders and industry organizations, today released its inaugural “Race and Ethnicity in Public Relations and Communications Benchmark Report.” The report, which examines the racial and ethnic representation and promotion data of employees across 100+ U.S.-based public relations and communications organizations, documents that just over one-fifth (21%) of those employees are racially/ethnically diverse.

After the social-justice protests of 2020, Synchrony Financial, which already had a foundational commitment to diversity and inclusion, and one of the most diverse workforces in its sector, knew it needed to do more. The company had a variety of DE&I efforts in place, but they were workplace-culture oriented, and in some instances provided only the appearance of progress.