Equity & Inclusion at Walmart & Beyond

We aspire to advance equity and inclusion within and through our business, creating opportunities for associates, suppliers, and business partners and leveraging our position to strengthen the communities in which we operate.

Inclusive, equitable societies foster resilience and growth, as members feel able to achieve and contribute their full potential. Numerous studies have shown that diverse, inclusive businesses tend to outperform their peers, as they attract and retain talent, foster innovation, and better reflect the complex character of the customers and communities they serve.⁶ Businesses benefit from—and can also help strengthen—diversity, equity, and inclusion in their communities and society more broadly. Yet workforce representation is uneven in society⁷ and disparities remain in outcomes related to education, financial, health, criminal justice, and other societal systems.

Walmart strives for our associate base to reflect the widely diverse communities we serve. We believe that our business and communities are stronger and more resilient when all our associates, suppliers, customers, and community members are included, heard, and empowered.

With approximately 2.1 million associates globally as of the end of FY2023, a presence in thousands of communities, and an extensive supplier base, we believe we can use our business to accelerate progress toward a more equitable and inclusive society in ways that also strengthen our company and better serve our stakeholders. Our strategies include:

• Fostering belonging through diversity, equity, and inclusion at Walmart. We are focused on cultivating a culture of belonging through diversity, equity, and inclusion, where all associates feel accepted and valued for their unique identities and skills.
  
• Inclusive sourcing and marketing. We use the power of our purchase orders and voice to promote equity with suppliers and business partners.
  
• Advancing equity in society. We aim to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in society more broadly, helping to tackle drivers of systemic disparities through complementary business initiatives and philanthropic investments.

Fostering Belonging at Walmart Through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | Inclusive Sourcing & Marketing | Advancing Equity in Society

Fostering Belonging at Walmart Through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Culture of Belonging

We seek a workplace culture where associates at all levels feel like they belong. We have set governance structures, incentives, and reporting practices to guide this culture and drive accountability. Through training and resources, we strive to develop our associates to be inclusive leaders who make decisions based upon our values of Service, Respect, Excellence, and Integrity. We also seek to enhance belonging by listening to our associates and facilitating engagement in associate groups.

Governance & Accountability

Our governance structures aim to provide effective oversight of our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. To help drive accountability, we have inclusive leadership expectations in place, and we measure progress and report data to inform our actions.

Governance Structures

• Walmart Inc. Board of Directors and Board Committees
  
  • The Board is comprised of directors with diverse backgrounds, experiences and viewpoints, which we believe improves board dialogue and decision-making. The Board has adopted a policy requiring that search firms include women and people of color candidates among the pool of potential directors, and we ask Board members to annually disclose their gender and race/ethnicity. As of April 2023, the Walmart Board included 27% women and 18% directors who are racially/ethnically diverse.
    
  • The Compensation and Management Development Committee of the Board has the authority and responsibility to review and advise management regarding the Company’s human capital management strategies, including culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, programs, and initiatives.
    
    
• Walmart Inc. Management
  
  • Walmart's EVP, Chief People Officer is a member of the Walmart Executive Council and is responsible for leading Walmart's culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies.
    
  • The Global Chief Belonging Officer leads our Global Office of Belonging, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and is responsible for utilizing Walmart’s core values to build a culture of belonging which are essential to how we work; our business accessibility and processes; how we serve our customers and stakeholders; and our commitment to measurable outcomes using data to establish key BDEI metrics.
    
  • The President’s Inclusion Council comprises Walmart executives (including President and CEO Doug McMillon, who chairs the Council) and serves in an advisory capacity to Walmart’s Executive Council and the entire organization to help Walmart sharpen its culture and foster inclusion across the enterprise. The members, who serve a two-year term, represent each of Walmart’s business segments and corporate functions.

For more information on our Board and other corporate governance topics, please visit our Corporate Governance website.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Performance Evaluations and Compensation Decisions

Walmart’s Leadership Expectations (LEs) translate our values into expected behaviors for associates throughout the company. They were developed with input from our CEO, leadership teams, and other campus and field associates based on surveys, interviews, and focus groups. They were implemented in Walmart’s Home Office in July 2021 and launched to our field population March 2022. The LEs have been designed to help our associates understand how to bring our purpose and values to life in everyday work and will be incorporated into annual evaluations, training, and talent and development programs. In addition, select U.S. associates (including all officers, Home Office senior directors/directors, and all field salaried management) have Inclusive Leadership Expectations (ILEs) focused on fostering a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. These ILEs outline specific actions, including participating in training sessions and mentoring fellow associates. As of January 2023, more than 70,000 associates had ILEs incorporated into annual performance discussions. Additionally, violations of our Global Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy leading to a written disciplinary action or violations of the Code of Conduct may lead to a reduction of certain associates'⁸ Management Incentive Plan payout from 25% to 100% depending on the level of violation.

Measurement & Reporting

We track and publicly disclose key diversity metrics such as representation, new hires and promotions with respect to women and people of color to inform action plans for continued progress and increase transparency.

Walmart Culture, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Dashboard

The CDEI Dashboard provides Walmart’s U.S.-based officers (Vice President and above) and their HR business partners with monthly-refreshed data on the representation and movement (hires, promotions, and exits) of women and people of color within their respective organizations. Officers and their HR business partners utilize data and insights from the CDEI Dashboard to inform customized CDEI action plans for their organization. All users of the CDEI Dashboard must complete training on how to properly utilize diversity data in decision-making prior to being granted access to the dashboard.

The CDEI Quarterly Report is a synopsis of current diversity representation and movement (hires, promotions, and exits) for women and people of color at the officer level which is shared with the senior leaders of Walmart and Sam’s Club. The President & CEO of Walmart Inc. receives an enterprise-wide quarterly report while each member of the Executive Council (direct reports to the President & CEO) and their HRBPs receive a customized report specific to their operating segment.

Public Disclosures

In August 2020, we committed to increasing reporting on the diversity of Walmart Inc. to twice a year and expanding the scope of metrics we disclose. These disclosures include data on U.S. representation by ethnicity and gender at the hourly, management, and officer levels; U.S. women of color representation; U.S. promotion and new hire data by ethnicity and gender; and international and global gender representation at the nonmanagement, management, and officer levels. Read our 2023 CDEI Report for the most recent disclosure. In addition, we annually disclose the prior year’s gender, racial, and ethnic composition of Walmart’s U.S. workforce by EEO-1 job category as set forth in the Section D Employment Data section of the Consolidated EEO-1 Report that Walmart files with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This data is posted on our corporate website annually.

DEI Training & Education

The CDEI Learning & Leadership team develops and curates resources and training to help upskill Walmart associates as inclusive leaders. Recent examples include:

• Culture, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (CDEI) Institute. The CDEI Institute, launched in 2020, is a virtual development program designed to cultivate inclusive leadership skills for CDEI advocacy. Associates who participate in the five-week program examine five major areas: promoting values-based leadership, exploring the power of diversity, mitigating unconscious bias, fostering a sense of belonging, and creating equitable environments. After completing the program, associates are encouraged to remain engaged and help integrate key learnings among their teams. Approximately 800 associates participated in FY2023.
  
• Inclusive Leadership Education eModules and Race and Inclusion Learning Paths. All U.S. associates have access to a collection of self-paced eModules and curated Race & Inclusion learning paths on Walmart’s ULearn learning management system. Available eModules include Cultural Competence, Disability Inclusion in the Workplace, Leading Across Generations, Introduction to Unconscious Bias, and Unconscious Bias in Hiring. The eModules were completed by more than 8,600 associates in FY2023. Available Race and Inclusion learning paths include Expanding My Circle, Cultural Competence, Becoming a True Ally, Conversations and Dialogue, and Becoming an Inclusive Leader. The learning paths had more than 86,000 views in FY2023.
  
• Live & Lead. In 2022, Walmart launched Live & Lead, an enterprise-wide continuous learning experience focused on women associates and their allies providing support and development for each stage of their career. Live & Lead, in partnership with NextUp, creates targeted development opportunities through quarterly learning content, networking events, and Meet the Expert sessions, all with a consideration for female nuances and gender bias.

Associate Belonging & Community

We help build associate belonging and community, including through:

• Associate listening sessions. The President’s Inclusion Council, CDEI Councils, and Officer Caucuses are designed to host listening sessions, collaborate with Associate Resource Groups and more. Read more about other ways we listen to and engage our associates in the Human Capital: Good Jobs and Advancement for Associates issue brief.
  
• Mentoring Circles. Close to 3,000 associates have participated in over 1,000 Lean In Mentoring Circles since the inception of the program to support one another along their learning and development journeys. Additionally, we have mentoring circles for our Black and African American, women, and LatinX senior directors led by their respective officer caucuses.
  
• Associate Resource Groups. The Associate Resource Group (ARG) model is a pivotal part of Walmart’s inclusion strategy, helping to drive business results by aiding in the attraction, retention, and development of top diverse talent; enhancing Walmart’s reputation in the community; and leveraging diversity through inclusion to drive innovation. We have nine ARGs: Asian Pacific Associates Network, Black African American Resource Group, FAVOR (interfaith), inABLE (disability), LatinX Network, PRIDE (LGBTQA+), Tribal Voices Indigenous Associate Resource Group, SERVES (veteran and military families), and the Women’s Resource Community.
  
• Community Champions. At more than 1,000 Walmart stores, community champions help to bring culture to life, including during DEI celebrations.

Building Diverse and Inclusive Teams

We aspire to reflect the customers we serve at every level of our organization, across all functions and business segments. We do so through recruitment and hiring, creating opportunities for career growth, and rewarding associates equitably.

Recruitment and Hiring

In FY2023, 58% of new hires in the U.S. were people of color and 50% were women.⁹ Our approach to hiring focuses on broad outreach to create robust pipelines of diverse talent:

• Strategic partnerships and initiatives
  
  • We have strategic partnerships with two Historically Black Colleges and Universities—North Carolina A&T State University and Jackson State University—focused on strengthening pathways to careers at Walmart, career readiness, and academic enrichment. We also have recruiting partnerships with six institutions: Clark Atlanta University, Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Prairie View A&M University, Southern University, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
    
  • Walmart joined the OneTen Coalition as part of a commitment to upskill, hire, and promote one million Black and African American individuals over ten years into family-sustaining careers. Walmart leads OneTen's retention and advancement work streams.
    
  • We support early career candidates across a broad portfolio of schools, including minority-serving institutions. We support candidates through mock interview programs, resume writing workshops, and career fairs. To help college students prepare for job interviews and their first careers, we offer programs like the World of Walmart Bootcamp and the Diversity Leadership Summit. These summits bring prospective associates to Northwest Arkansas for professional development workshops, networking opportunities, and social engagements with leaders, associates, and campus recruiters.
    
  • We leverage diverse media channels via strategic recruitment marketing campaigns and attend dozens of events and conferences to connect with diverse candidate pools.
    
    
• Hiring guidelines and interview training
  
  • Our Diversity Equity and Inclusion Talent Principles guide our hiring managers and recruiters to interview diverse candidate slates, assemble diverse interview panels, and remove photos from the recruiting process to mitigate bias. We also have a policy to refrain from requesting salary history to set pay for external candidates.
    
  • All hiring managers can access interactive, scenario-based interview training that emphasizes the importance of structured interviews and reviews how to mitigate bias.
    
    
• Technology-powered tools. We deploy technology like SeekOut to source and attract a diverse applicant pool. We also use an AI-powered job ad tool that helps recruiters and hiring managers write using more inclusive (including gender-neutral) and engaging language.
  
  
• Candidate data review. We assess candidate data in the aggregate to measure progress and the results of our efforts.
  
  
• Continuing our commitment to veterans and military spouses. We launched a new Find-a-Future program in June 2021. Find-a-Future strives to help veterans and military spouses—whether early career, mid-career or experienced professionals—with tools and resources to build a roadmap to find employment opportunities at Walmart, gain education needed to help achieve future goals, or grow veteran businesses and bring their product/service to market. Since FY2014, we have hired about 400,000 U.S. veterans; in FY2023, we hired over 47,000 veterans and 27,000 military spouses.³
  
  
• Second-chance hiring. We assess and strive to lower barriers to provide more people with the opportunity to secure gainful employment, get valuable experience and advance on the job. We were at the forefront to “ban the box” that asks about prior criminal convictions on the initial job application. In 2021, in coordination with Business Roundtable and other member companies, Walmart was a founding member of the Second Chance Business Coalition, a cross-sector group of large employers committed to expanding opportunities for employment and greater upward mobility for people with criminal records. Read more about our second chance hiring efforts in the "Advancing equity in society" section below.

Development

To help associates acquire the experiences and skills needed for success in the jobs of today and tomorrow, Walmart invests in associate development—including new roles and career paths, on-the-job coaching and cross-training, and formal training through Walmart Academy. Read our Human Capital: Good Jobs & Advancement for Associates brief for more detail on our training and development programs.

Additional relevant programs include:

• Development programs. Among other programs, Walmart sponsors the Embark and Gateways development programs for entry-level and mid-level managers, respectively, that aim to accelerate a pipeline of diverse leadership talent. Additionally, Walmart's Business Leadership Experience program, sponsored by President & CEO Doug McMillon, consists of immersions into Walmart stakeholder groups for senior decision makers with the potential to reach the C Suite. The FY2023 group was diverse (more than 50% women and 75% people of color).
  
• Live Better U. Live Better U (LBU) provides part- and full-time hourly Walmart and Sam's Clubs U.S. associates with Walmart paying 100% of tuition and books, from foundational offerings like high school completion, to short-form programs including Business Analytics and Project Management, to career diplomas and college degrees. As of the end of FY2023, 51% of active LBU students identify as people of color and 58% identify as women. According to a 2021 study by the Lumina Foundation, among bachelor’s-seeking LBU participants, the program exceeds national enrollment trends, particularly for Black learners. The Lumina study also reported that Black hourly associates who participated in LBU were 87.5% more likely to receive promotions than non-participants. White associates were 80% more likely, and Hispanic or Latino associates were 70.7% more likely. We have strategically added partners to LBU, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Read more about LBU in the Human Capital: Good Jobs and Advancement for Associates issue brief.
  
  

Promoting from Within

Given that 53% of our U.S. hourly associates are female and 50% are people of color, we believe that promotion from within based on meaningful factors such as skills, experience, and performance will create a distinctive culture of diversity and inclusion at increasingly higher levels of the company.

Frontline hourly associates are experiencing upward mobility:

• Walmart U.S. associates receive their first promotion, on average, within seven months of joining the company. In FY2023, 50% of hourly-to-hourly promotions went to people of color and 54% went to women.
  
• Over the last five years (FY2019-FY2023), an average of more than 195,000 U.S. associates received promotions each year, including more than 180,000 associates promoted in FY2023.
  
• 88% of U.S. roles above entry level were filled internally in FY2023.
  
• Approximately 75% of our U.S. salaried store, club, and supply-chain management started their careers in hourly positions. In FY2023, 43% of total U.S. management promotions went to people of color and 40% went to women.
  
  

Strategies to achieve these outcomes include the development levers described above, as well as:

• Data-driven talent review. We strive to make our talent review process data-driven and objective. For example, we utilize a talent toolkit that equips leaders to have career conversations with associates prior to reviews, helping leaders identify talent potential while recognizing and mitigating unconscious bias.
  
• Objective tools to assess leadership potential. For promotion to officer levels, Walmart leverages psychometric tools to provide insights on leadership strengths, potential gaps, and readiness. These tools are used in addition to other information about the candidate—including prior performance, qualifications, and experience—to help reduce subjectivity and potential bias in the decision-making process.

Pay Equity

Our strategy to grow diverse talent pipelines includes compensating our associates equitably. Walmart is committed to fair and equal pay for associates and has processes, tools, and systems in place to ensure equitable, bias-free compensation for offers, movements, and promotions within the organization.

We conduct annual pay equity analyses to confirm that, accounting for relevant factors such as position, tenure, and location, associates are paid equitably regardless of race, ethnicity, and gender. Our pay equity analyses in the U.S. confirm that women are paid 1:1 (dollar for dollar) of the pay for men, and that people of color are paid 1:1 (dollar for dollar) of the pay for white associates.

Our analyses of pay and compensation practices are conducted in consultation with expert third-party firms to confirm that we are following industry-leading standards. As part of our annual and ongoing rewards management, we adjust pay and practices, as necessary, to correct for unintended pay differences and market competitiveness. We continue to review our processes and analyses beyond the U.S. and Canada so that we can consistently review and report on our equitable pay and practices globally. We commit to annually updating this disclosure.

Fair pay is foundational to Walmart’s culture and values. Pay equity analyses are part of a larger set of practices to support and develop diverse talent and to treat all associates fairly, consistent with our core value of respect for the individual. Examples include:

• Hiring practices. Gender-neutral job descriptions; interview training workshops and standardized interview questions; not requesting a salary history to set pay for external candidates; diverse candidate slates for U.S. officers and the Board of Directors
• Pay controls. Market-based starting pay rates; limiting discretion on pay; reviewing pay and promotion decisions before finalization
• Transparency. Providing self-service tools for associates to view their pay details and range at any time; supporting associate inquiries regarding pay and providing confidential resources for raising concerns
  
  

For more information on associate pay, please see Human Capital: Good Jobs and Advancement for Associates.

Inclusive Sourcing & Marketing

Walmart fosters equity and inclusion through our business relationships, including the sourcing of products and services and the way we conduct our marketing activities.

Inclusive Sourcing

Walmart uses its business and philanthropic resources to help diverse suppliers and small producers access markets.

Walmart's Supplier Inclusion Program helps Walmart diversify and enhance our product offering to better meet customer needs while helping to foster equity and inclusion for suppliers. The program focuses on companies at least 51% owned, managed and controlled by racial and ethnic minorities, women, veterans, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities, helping put them on equal footing to effectively work with us while at the same time growing their business. Our U.S. businesses sourced more than $13 billion in goods and services from approximately 2,400 diverse suppliers in FY2023. These sourcing efforts are facilitated through financial support (early payment and capital access programs), as well as openly soliciting pitches from diverse suppliers.

Additionally, since 2017 the Walmart Foundation has awarded grants of over $86 million to benefit smallholders in India, Mexico, and Central America; these grants are expected to reach over one million smallholder farmers, of whom over 50% are women. These grant programs aim to enhance farmer livelihoods and value chains, encourage the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices, unlock access to finance, grow formal market linkages, strengthen Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), and empower women farmers in FPOs. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation announced a new commitment to fund projects in India designed to help build capacity and advance the economic livelihoods of one million smallholder farmers by 2028, with at least 50% women.

For more information on our supplier inclusion work, please see our Supplier Opportunity brief and our Supplier Inclusion website. See also a report highlighting how our Market Access portfolio is working to advance women smallholder farmers.

Inclusive Marketing

Recognizing the impacts of our marketing spend and voice, we strive to market equitably and inclusively. Example strategies include:

• Promoting culturally appropriate Walmart marketing. Walmart U.S. has established a DEI Marketing Board, which solicits feedback from a diverse group of associates across the company before marketing is launched. The Board comprises salaried associates from across the company who volunteer their time. We provide our copy writers with alternative text training aligned with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and provide advertisers on Walmart Connect with a style guide to help ensure inclusion and representation.
  
• Educating Walmart teams on inclusion. Beyond the learning and development opportunities discussed above, we seek to advance understanding of our audiences by conducting in-depth analyses of customer needs, including women, Black and African American, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ customers.
  
• Advancing equity in marketing beyond Walmart. Walmart supports organizations like Hue that shine a light on talent from underrepresented groups in the industry and sponsor programs like adfellows and The One School that work to bring new talent from underrepresented groups into the industry. Through groups like the Once & For All Coalition and AIMM, we share best practices with others in the industry.
  
• Promoting messages of inclusion. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have supported the Ad Council's “Belonging Begins with Us,” “Love Has No Labels,” and “Tear the Paper Ceiling” campaigns. Walmart was honored by the Ad Council for outstanding corporate citizenship and workforce readiness in 2022.
  
  

Advancing Equity in Society

Hundreds of millions of Walmart customers and more than two million associates live and work in communities surrounding Walmart stores and clubs. We believe that people live better in stronger, more connected communities where they feel they belong, can depend on and work with one another, and can meaningfully contribute. And a thriving community is good for the businesses within those communities.

Building More Inclusive & Resilient Communities

In addition to our work through the Center for Racial Equity and the SVNs, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation help to build inclusive and resilient communities by listening to and supporting diverse communities and working to unite people in communities.

Community Listening and Collaboration

Walmart's Constituent Relations team facilitates the company’s collaboration with organizations close to underrepresented and underserved communities on issues of mutual concern. We host and support stakeholder summits and events that bring Walmart together with partner organizations representing different constituent groups, including the National Urban League, National Congress of American Indians, The Association of University Centers on Disabilities, International Women’s Forum, AAPI, National Museum of the American Latino, and LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. To further foster engagement and gain a deeper understanding of the concerns of these groups, we conduct annual partners meetings and roundtables where members of underrepresented communities can share their perspectives and priorities with Walmart. Example engagements include:

• Walmart’s Constituent Relations team and other Walmart representatives meet with the UnidosUS Affiliate Council annually to share experiences, concerns, and opportunities to strengthen Walmart’s relationship with the Hispanic community. Recent discussions have included a need for bilingual support in Walmart’s pharmacies and clinics and misconceptions about whether insurance is required to access pharmacy services. As a result, Walmart enhanced written information about our service offerings and in-store Spanish-language signage.
  
• Following an incident in a Virginia Walmart store, Walmart’s Constituent Relations team, Community Relations team, and store manager engaged in conversations with Black community leaders about how Walmart can create a welcoming environment for all members of the community. This has led to Walmart sponsoring community events, deploying the mobile Health & Wellness unit to the store, and offering free movie showings to community members.
  
  

Caring and Connected Communities

Community resilience grows when residents feel they belong, can depend on each other, and can meaningfully contribute. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation collaborate with other funders and organizations to build trust, deepen empathy and encourage people to work across lines of difference in communities, with $5 million funded in FY2023.

Example efforts include:

• Walmart supports Independent Sector (IS), a national membership organization that brings together a diverse community of changemakers, nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs working to strengthen civil society and ensure all people in the United States thrive. Funding in FY2023 supports programs centered on providing training and tools to leaders in marginalized communities.
  
• A Walmart Foundation grant supports Weave: The Social Fabric Project of the Aspen Institute in its efforts to promote relationship-building and build social trust.
  
• A Walmart grant supports the Hispanic Heritage Foundation's Racial Solidarity Institute, an effort to bring Latino and Black communities together to advance solidarity.
  
• Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have contributed to efforts that seek to enhance a sense of belonging in immigrant and refugee communities, including by supporting Welcoming America training for community leaders and targeted support for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.

Read more: Serving Communities.

Fostering Equity in Philanthropy

Walmart.org aims to enhance equity in philanthropy through its operational practices, promotion of equity in the philanthropic profession, and by bringing an equity lens to its grant portfolios.

Operational Practices

Walmart.org has adopted practices to help ensure its activities are aligned with Walmart's and the Walmart Foundation's equity and inclusion principles, including:

• Walmart.org embeds questions about potential grantees' leadership team and board and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of the application process. Walmart.org program officers use this information to facilitate important conversations about how we can accelerate our impact on equity through the organization.
  
• Walmart.org partners with the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) to solicit anonymous feedback from grantees on our performance. As part of the survey, we  include questions on grantees' awareness, understanding, and assessment of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  
  

Advancing the Profession

Walmart.org promotes efforts to enhance and build capacity in the grantmaking profession with respect to equity and inclusion. For example:

• Walmart established a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grantee Community of Practice, investing $2.1 million in 11 organizations in FY2020 to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in one of three areas: Organization Operations, Program Design, or Research. The Walmart Foundation granted an additional $2.3 million to support a second group of 10 grantees in FY2023 to participate and appoint a facilitator to support the new cohort of non-profits as they work to operationalize racial equity in their organizations.
  
• Walmart and the Walmart Foundation supported Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) efforts to improve accountability for fulfilling corporate pledges and to establish the ABFE Corporate Funding Community of Practice, which seeks to build skills, connections, and capacity of Black leaders in corporate giving roles.
  
• A Walmart grant supports Native Americans in Philanthropy to develop emerging philanthropic leaders, increase representation, and foster alliances across constituent groups.
  
  

Grantmaking with an Equity Lens

Walmart.org seeks to apply an equity lens within its grantmaking portfolios by helping to ensure that grants are made in an equitable manner and marginalized and vulnerable populations are supported. Examples include:

• Disaster preparedness and response: Walmart.org strives to quickly reach underrepresented communities and support diverse organizations in disaster response efforts. For example, the Walmart Foundation made a $3 million investment in the Gulf region to build capacity among community-based organizations and municipal governments to help vulnerable communities prepare for and mitigate the impact of disasters. Grantees are helping local governments and organizations embed equity into disaster mitigation, recovery, and access to funding. And Walmart and the Walmart Foundation's $6 million response to Hurricane Ian included support for Community Organized Relief Effort and The Smile Trust, which worked to help ensure disaster resources reached the most marginalized and vulnerable communities in the impacted region.
  
• Healthier food for all: The Walmart Foundation invests in culturally relevant nutrition education efforts, including grants to support FoodCorps' food education in schools program and UnidosUS's Comprando Rico y Sano program. Walmart.org has also supported First Nations Development Institute's work to support Native American food pantries and food banks that will build their organizational and program capacity to boost control, cultural responsiveness, and infrastructure of community food systems.

• Opportunity is not equally distributed across society, particularly along racial, ethnic, economic, and gender lines, and there is uneven representation at senior levels of organizations.
  
• Walmart is working towards greater equity in interconnected criminal justice, education, finance, and health systems, but progress also depends on more effective policy solutions and a broader societal movement towards equity and inclusion.
  
• Walmart’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy depends in large part on the success of our human capital strategy—particularly identifying sources of diverse talent and building a pipeline into the company, retention of skilled, diverse associates, and upskilling our diverse frontline workforce. The effects of immediate actions, such as seeding the talent development and leadership pipeline with talent including people of color, will be felt over the course of several years and certain strategies may not yield immediate results, particularly at higher levels of the organization.
  
• Walmart is subject to local, national, and international economic trends and realities. There is strong competition among employers for skilled, diverse workers, and labor surpluses and shortages can impact retail businesses.
  
• Walmart’s business is evolving rapidly. Customer trends towards omni-channel shopping, including pickup and delivery, change the skills necessary in Walmart's frontline workforce and may outpace incumbent associates' skills and readiness. In the United States, people of color are at higher risk of employment disruption from automation and technological advances than others, potentially exacerbating existing disparities and heightening the urgency to upskill Walmart’s frontline workforce.
  
• Social science and literature on effective strategies for building diverse workforces and promoting equity at scale are still evolving.
  
• National and global catastrophic events, including pandemics, can exacerbate many of the above factors.
  
  

About Our Reporting

• 2023 Culture, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report
• Center for Racial Equity
• Live Better U
• Supplier Inclusion Site
• Human Capital: Good Jobs and Advancement for Associates
• Serving Communities
• Supplier Opportunity
• Walmart.org, Seeding Advancement of Women in Smallholder Farming: Insights from the Market Access Portfolio (March 2021)
• McKinsey & Company, Race in the Workplace: The Black Experience in the US Private Sector (February 2021)