Synchrony President Brian Doubles and Chief Diversity and Corporate Responsibility Officer Michael Mathews shared the following update on the company’s efforts to address racial justice and equity along with its continued efforts to build a more diverse and inclusive workplace.  

Since the company began, diversity and inclusion (D&I) has always been foundational to who we are at Synchrony. It is core to our values and DNA and we are proud of creating one of the most diverse and inclusive workplaces in our industry.

Yet, despite our achievements, we have known for far too long that there is more that must be done to realize true equity and inclusion in both our workplace and in our communities. This was put into stark focus by events that occurred in our country earlier this year. While our commitment to D&I did not begin with these horrific events, it has intensified our collective efforts to make a difference.

In June, Synchrony began an accelerated journey of listening to and learning from our team, to help us activate change and better address ongoing systematic racism and inequality. As we discussed in small and large groups, we were inspired by the vulnerability and honesty with which our employees shared their stories of injustice, fear and hope.

We recognized that to succeed at driving progress over the long term, we must treat D&I no differently than we would any other critical business challenge. For this reason, we elevated D&I to one of our eight corporate strategic imperatives, with Board-level accountability. We are applying Agile principles to help us move quickly to action and outcomes as we do in other areas of our business.

To drive action enterprise-wide, we launched a senior-level D&I task force that we lead, together with diverse senior leaders. This team is working on the following three areas, drawing on all of our resources to drive measurable results that deliver change in the workplace and in society. Our focus areas include:

1. Workforce Development and Inclusion: Increasing diverse employee talent at all levels of the workforce and strengthening our culture of inclusion.
2. Financial Growth and Wellness: Advancing financial opportunities, growth and wellness among diverse communities and businesses.
3. Racial Equality and Social Reform: Increasing our commitment to addressing deeply rooted gender and racial inequality and disparities within the communities we serve.

You can read about the actions we have taken across each pillar here. We will share updates as we continue our journey.

In the past, corporate America has often let similar moments slip by without doing their part to achieve meaningful change. At Synchrony, we pledge this time will be different. We are working hard to take decisive and meaningful action. We have a lot to be proud of and a lot still to do.

We look forward to creating change built on justice and equality for all, together with our employees, our partners, our customers and the communities that we serve.

Sincerely,

Brian Doubles, President

Michael Mathews, Chief Diversity and Corporate Responsibility Officer