Arcadis announces its annual rating on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s assessment of LGBTQ+ workplace equality
December 4, 2023 - Arcadis, a leading global design and consultancy organization for natural and built assets proudly announced today that it received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index, the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Arcadis joins the ranks of 545 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year.
Lisa Stone, Global Strategic DEIB Director, Resilience and the Americas, at Arcadis said: “Being named an Equality 100 Award recipient with a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023 CEI is a tremendous achievement for Arcadis. Driving inclusive change for the LGBTQ+ community is an ongoing process, and our employee PRIDE Affinity Group continues to be at the forefront of leading these efforts creating workplace equality for everyone.”
RaShawn “Shawnie” Hawkins, Human Rights Campaign Sr Director of Workplace Equality, said: “For well over two decades, businesses have played an important role in furthering LGBTQ+ equality by centering employee needs and voices when it comes to workplace inclusion. While there is much more work to be done, year-over-year growth in CEI participation is evidence of a business community that recognizes the responsibility and value in upholding equity and inclusion. Our goal at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is to work in a spirit of partnership with companies, providing educational resources and leading benchmarking, and collaborating on ways for businesses to support the LGBTQ+ community at a time when we face unprecedented legislative attacks, heightened anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and physical violence. The CEI is an ever-evolving tool – a blueprint that companies can use to show up more effectively in supporting their LGBTQ+ employees and their families.”
John McCarthy, US Country Director for Arcadis, said: “Our long-term success is contingent upon all Arcadians feeling empowered to bring their authentic selves to work. Receiving a CEI 100 score for the third consecutive year is an encouraging and reaffirming nod that we continue to be on the right track in creating and maintaining an inclusive work environment for our LGBTQ+ employees, thanks to the incredible work of our PRIDE Affinity Group year after year. We are as committed to improving quality of life for our employees as we are for our clients.”
The results of the 2023-2024 CEI showcase how U.S.-based companies are promoting LGBTQ+ friendly workplace policies in the U.S. and abroad. The first year of the CEI included 319 participants, and the 2023-2024 CEI now includes 1,384 participants; further demonstrating the tremendous trajectory of the CEI, a record-breaking 1,340 businesses have non-discrimination protections specific to gender identity, up from just 17 in 2002. These critical non-discrimination protections cover 21 million employees in the U.S. and around the globe. Arcadis’s efforts in satisfying all the CEI’s criteria earned a score of 100 and the designation as recipient of the Equality 100 Award: Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion.
The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to over 20 million U.S. workers and an additional 18 million outside of the U.S. Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.
The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:
- Non-discrimination policies across business entities;
- Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families;
- Supporting an inclusive culture; and,
- Corporate social responsibility.
The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.
