American Express has announced a $50 million commitment in support of nonprofits globally as part of a $1 billion plan aimed at promoting racial equity.

With the goal of advancing its diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities, the company plans to award $50 million in grants by the end of 2024 to nonprofits led by people of color or members of underrepresented groups, including organizations working to address inequality and promote social justice. In addition, the American Express Leadership Academy, which provides training and networking opportunities to emerging nonprofit and social purpose leaders, will work to increase the representation of people of color in its U.S. programs from 50 percent in 2019 to 75 percent by 2024, while the company, through a partnership with GlobalGiving, will expand its employee gift matching program to facilitate and match donations in more than thirty locations around the globe.

Other components of the $1 billion plan include investments aimed at maintaining full pay parity — 100 percent gender pay equity for employees globally and across races and ethnicities in the United States — as well as efforts to implement a comprehensive recruitment, hiring, and promotion strategy designed to attract, develop, and retain employees from underrepresented communities. The company also plans to double its spend with diverse- and minority-owned suppliers in the U.S. to $750 million annually by the end of 2024; expand access to capital and financial education to at least two hundred and fifty thousand Black-owned small and midsize businesses in the U.S.; partner with IFundWomen of Color to provide a hundred Black women entrepreneurs with grants of $25,000 as well as resources designed to help them grow their businesses; and develop more inclusive marketing initiatives as well as design and build product experiences and programs that better meet the needs of underrepresented consumer and business customers.

"American Express is built on relationships based on trust and respect, and by embedding inclusion and diversity into everything we do," said Robert Childs, executive vice president of the company's Office of Enterprise Inclusion, Diversity and Business Engagement. "We are committed to mobilizing our collective resources across the company to make an even greater impact for our colleagues, customers, and communities. Our goal is to eliminate barriers that have made it more difficult for underrepresented groups to have equal access to economic and social opportunities."

(Photo credit: pxfuel)