- Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook announced that the company is making a $100 million commitment for its Racial Equity and Justice initiative
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook announced that the company is making a $100 million commitment for its Racial Equity and Justice initiative. And Apple’s vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives Lisa Jackson will be overseeing the project.
The initiative started in the U.S. and it will expand globally from there. And this initiative is focused on challenging the systemic barriers that exist for people of color. Plus it has a special focus on education, criminal justice form, and economic equality. This initiative is going to build on Apple’s work in racial justice and broaden its scope and impact using a model that was similar for the company’s environmental work.
“Lisa has revolutionized our environmental work by looking across the company, bringing existing teams and projects together under one umbrella, dramatically expanding those efforts and compounding and magnifying their results,” said Cook in a statement via MacRumors. “We want to bring that same holistic focus and companywide scale to racial justice and breaking down barriers to opportunity across our society.”
How does this initiative work? Apple will be working with historically black colleges, community colleges, STEM, and underserved students and teachers. And the company will also sign new partnerships with organizations such as the Equal Justice Initiative.
Apple is also launching a developer entrepreneurial camp for black developers. And in the company’s supply chain, it will commit to increase spending with black owned businesses along with increasing representation across its partners.
Within the company, Apple will make significant steps towards diversity and inclusion. “Whether it is at Apple or anywhere else in society, the burden of change must not fall on those who are underrepresented. It falls heaviest on those in positions of power, leadership, and influence to change structures for the greater good,” Cook added.
