Clarifications

ADVOCACY AND ACTION

While advocacy efforts and actions may vary depending on an organization’s context, examples could include:

• Creating internship and mentorship programs focused specifically on providing opportunities for underrepresented and underestimated gender groups in the organization’s industry;
• Establishing partnerships with schools and community groups to introduce these careers and spark interest at an earlier age;
• Partnering with foundations and/or nonprofits to fund scholarship programs intentionally created for students with underrepresented gender identities;
• Providing mentorship to aspiring women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs toward achieving qualified business certifications (e.g, DBE, WBE, LGBTBE, etc.);
• Dismantling institutional policies or practices that are found to result in gender discrimination and rebuilding with equitable policies and practices;
• Co-leading a town hall and lobby day with women and gender-diverse communities to meet with legislators and push for the passage of key policies that uplift their voices in the organization’s industry; and/or
• Publishing industry-specific research reports on barriers faced by people with underrepresented gender identities and benefits to having a gender-diverse workforce.
  

Organizations may identify different actions that are equally applicable. Living Future encourages organizations to select and implement actions that are most meaningful and impactful based on their own context.

Documentation of Advocacy Efforts and Actions

Advocacy efforts and actions should be selected and implemented with intention and aligned with an organization’s commitment to work toward greater diversity in the industry. Living Future recommends that organizations consider a wide range of options and select the ones that seem most impactful and aligned with the organization’s mission. In documenting advocacy efforts and actions, organizations must address the following areas:

• What is the goal of your advocacy efforts?
• What advocacy efforts or actions did you consider? Why did you choose the efforts or actions you ultimately implemented?
• What is the impact of your efforts or actions? How are you measuring your impact?
• What are you looking forward to doing differently or building upon in the future?
  

APPLICABILITY

Indicator metrics apply to all of the following groups (see definitions in General Clarifications):

• Employees
• Contractors
• Interns
• Board members
  

DATA COLLECTION

For the purposes of Just, gender identity is based on anonymous, aggregated, self-reported data from those in the organization who choose to voluntarily disclose (e.g., through a survey or as a part of onboarding). In the implementation of data collection, it is important for respondents to know how and why their data is being collected and that it will be used in a safe, non-identifiable manner.⁷

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENTS

While Living Future supports organizations having equal opportunity statements, these are distinct from the Indicator’s policy requirement and will not be accepted as an alternative to the policy.

GENDER DIVERSITY

For the purposes of this Indicator, gender diversity is measured by the ratio of women and gender-diverse individuals to the total workforce and senior leadership team.

QUALIFIED BUSINESSES

Certified WBEs, businesses achieving LGBTBE certification on the basis of being owned by someone who is gender-diverse, and businesses achieving DBE certification on the basis of being women-owned are eligible to meet the Qualified Business alternative compliance path for achieving Level 3 or 4 for this Indicator.

Alternatively, organizations with a) a single owner who identifies as a woman or gender-diverse, or b) multiple owners who identify as women or gender-diverse and who together hold 51% or greater ownership are eligible to meet the Qualified Business alternative compliance path for achieving Level 3 or 4 for this Indicator.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP

The senior management/leadership category is meant to encompass the upper tier of personnel who have broad decision-making power over a significant segment of the organization, such as C suite–level employees or division heads involved in strategic decision-making as well as board members. Senior management is also included in “total workforce” calculations. If there is only one person in senior management, then the performance metrics for senior leadership do not apply, and the performance level is based solely on the “total workforce” figures.

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⁷ Green 2.0. (2021). Tracking Diversity: The Green 2.0 Guide to Best Practices in Demographic Data Collection. Retrieved December 19, 2022, from https://greentwopointzero.org/wp-content/uploads/green2.0-demographic-data-collection-guide.pdf.