The past few weeks have compelled us to confront the reality of violence and injustice which members of the Black community face on a daily basis. We have shared words of support for our friends, colleagues and communities. We need to take action as well. At Facebook, we’re focused on building powerful tools and resources. We’re taking steps to improve our products, programs and policies. We pooled ideas from diverse groups of our employees across different teams on how we can better fight against racial injustice. Today we are sharing that we’re already putting some of these to work.
Building on earlier investments, we’re committing an additional $200 million to support Black-owned businesses and organizations. This commitment is part of a broader $1.1 billion investment in Black and diverse suppliers and communities in the US. We’re also creating a new space in the Facebook app called Lift Black Voices and we’re building a more diverse and inclusive workforce so we can better support communities around the world.
Investing in the Black Community
From the early days of the pandemic, we have been listening to small businesses and trying to do what we can to help them weather the storm – including direct financial help through our $40 million US grant program. Since we opened applications for the program, we have seen a huge amount of interest from Black-owned businesses – so we know they are facing enormous challenges. When we asked for ideas from employees, many suggested that there was much more we could do to support them.
- We’re investing $100 million this year in Black-owned small businesses, Black creators, and nonprofits that serve the Black community in the US. This includes $25 million in support of Black content creators and $75 million in grants of cash and ad credits to support Black-owned businesses and nonprofits that serve the Black community.
- We’re setting a goal to spend at least $1 billion with diverse suppliers next year and every year thereafter. As part of this, we’ll spend at least $100 million annually with Black-owned suppliers, from facilities to construction to marketing agencies and more.
- Over the next three years, we’ll reach 1 million members of the Black community and 1 million members of the Latinx community in the US through a program called Elevate that provides free training in the digital skills they need to succeed, from setting up an online presence to creating marketing materials and more. We’ve also pivoted our Boost with Facebook program to all virtual training this summer, starting with the Summer of Support program, launching on June 24.
- We’re giving 100,000 scholarships to Black students working toward digital skills certifications through our Facebook Blueprint program. This is in addition to our CodeFWD and TechPrep programs that offer resources and support to help underrepresented communities get started in computer science and programming.
- To support people raising money for causes they care about on Juneteenth, we’ll donate $5 million ($19 each) to over 250,000 Facebook Fundraisers created for three racial justice organizations: Equal Justice Initiative, Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the Innocence Project.
Elevating Black Voices and Stories
We’re creating a new space in the Facebook app called Lift Black Voices to highlight stories from Black people, share educational resources, and inspire people to take action through fundraising for racial justice causes. We asked employees to share ideas for new products and features to help fight racial injustice, and this was one of the more than 700 ideas submitted so far.
In Instagram search, we’ll surface accounts to help people take action for racial justice. We’re also continuing our #ShareBlackStories editorial series on @instagram, @instagramforbusiness, @creators, @shop and @design to amplify the voices of Black creators, artists, activists and businesses. We’ll continue to build on these over time.
A More Diverse and Inclusive Workforce
We know that more diverse teams will make better decisions and build better products. We’re invested in increasing diversity and inclusion because we care about doing better at serving diverse communities all around the world.
- We’ve already committed to have 50% of our workforce be from underrepresented communities by the end of 2023, and we’re working to double our number of Black and Latinx employees in the same timeframe.
- And over the next five years, we’re committing to have 30% more people of color, including 30% more Black people, in leadership positions. We will also continue our ongoing efforts to increase the representation of women in leadership.
- We’re taking a closer look at how we make decisions. We’ve already made some shifts and investments and we’re continuing the work to get more voices and diverse perspectives included in the development of our products, policies and programs.
Achieving racial justice and equity is a goal all of us share – and a goal that will take real work to achieve. This is just the start of how we plan to help in this fight. We’ll continue to listen and take action to support the long-term success of the Black community.