Civil rights auditing comes to the private sector

The public rightfully pressed local governments to address how their police departments were engaging communities of color after George Floyd, a Black man, lost his life under the relentless knee of a Minneapolis officer.

A lesser-known impact of the 2020 reckoning over who benefited from unconstitutional policing and who bore its burdens occurred in the private sector. Companies announced new initiatives intended to demonstrate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workplaces and communities and to examine their role in ensuring everyone’s civil rights.

The inevitable questions followed the much-heralded announcements: how those initiatives are faring and have business leaders sustained their commitment during the political backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

One way to find out is through civil rights auditing.

Traditionally, the focus on civil rights policy and regulation has been trained on public sector agencies. The expansion into private companies reflects a growing emphasis on corporate social responsibility and ethical practices.

Shareholders and civil rights advocates are urging companies to provide assurance that their products and services are delivered in compliance with their civil rights obligations and that promises made in the wake of George Floyd’s murder are being kept. The emergence of artificial intelligence, with all its documented potential to harm communities of color, has added to their list of concerns.

The inconsistent quality of a handful of recent civil rights audits of large companies led the Ford Foundation to fund the development of audit standards specific to this purpose and a training program to learn how to apply them. I was a member of the first cohort to finish the pilot training, which was led by CapEQ. PolicyLink is responsible for maintaining and updating the standards, which live on its website: https://www.policylink.org/civil-rights-audit-standards

I look forward to applying my experience and auditing skills to this new area of inquiry and applaud those who developed the new standards and training for their tireless work and commitment. I also commend companies who are willing to undergo audits under the new standards, which include provisions for transparency, independence, and information access.