by David Kenny, Chief Executive Officer
Today, we released our 2022 Nielsen ESG Report, a progress report on how we’re prioritizing environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, such as climate change; diversity, equity and inclusion; the engagement of our employees; business integrity; and societal trust in the media.
We know this report is of great interest to our employees, shareholders and other stakeholders who want to understand our strategies and outlook in a time complicated by COVID-19, war, climate change, food insecurity, a renewed focus on systemic racism and the existing disparities among people of color, a rising demand for truth and integrity in the media and so much more.
Last year, in the wake of our completed sale of Nielsen Global Connect (now NielsenIQ), we emerged as a rebranded, media-focused company intent on helping to power a better media future for all people. While we are championing change within our industry, we are also taking a close look inside our own company. As part of our reorganization, we reviewed our existing ESG focus areas and updated or established a range of new goals to be accomplished by 2024.
These goals include achieving:
- 46% of women represented in global leadership.
- 5.2% representation for Black talent in leadership in the U.S.
- 5.9% representation for Hispanic talent in leadership in the U.S.
- Reduce our on-premises application server footprint to 10 percent.
- Reduce our business travel spend by 25% from our 2019 pre-COVID baseline.
- Increase employee participation in community-oriented programs to 30%.
I’m pleased we’re already making progress on that last goal. For the month of June—in which we will recognize Juneteenth as a company holiday in the U.S. for the first time (June 20) and when so many of our employees are celebrating Pride Month—we also hosted our 10th Nielsen Global Impact Day June 9 in which thousands of employees volunteered for a day of service through 350 events and individual activities across 40 countries.
Our efforts were literally all over the map. We cleaned a beach in Singapore, we served breakfast at a mission in Auckland, New Zealand, we sorted clothes and toys for a nonprofit organization in Mumbai, and cleaned up a playground in New York City. A group of 30 volunteers did a skills-based virtual “pitch competition” to help two nonprofit organizations working to advance media equity and media literacy. I volunteered for Teach for America, where I encouraged corps members to bring data science to the classroom.
All of these efforts reflect our company culture of engagement and our core values of inclusion, courage and growth. Looking forward to next year, as we prepare to celebrate our 100th year in business, I am energized by the bright future that awaits. We remain committed to innovation and measurement integrity in ESG as we bring the industry forward to capture and reflect the changing face of the audience at large.
