Companies have shared nearly 200 actions that they are taking to advance diversity & inclusion in the workplace
coalition expands reach and impact into the business Community

New York, NY, July 25, 2017 — Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) joins the growing coalition pledging to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Nielsen CEO Mitch Barns joins more than 250 CEOs in taking the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ pledge, committing themselves—and the organizations they lead—to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This extraordinary show of force builds on the energy from the launch and grows the potential impact of the pledge.

By signing on to this commitment, Nielsen is pledging to take action to cultivate a workplace where diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and respected and where employees feel encouraged to discuss diversity and inclusion. The collective of more than 250 signatories have already shared nearly 200 best known actions, exchanging tangible learning opportunities and creating collaborative conversations via the initiative’s unified hub, CEOAction.com.

“Diversity and inclusion are crucial to Nielsen’s growth, strength, and ability to innovate,” said Barns. “From our employee resource groups and supplier diversity program to our investments in associates and community outreach, Nielsen’s diversity and inclusion strategy remains focused on recruitment, retention, and professional development for our associates, and on meaningful consumer engagement and investments in communities where we live and work. The results of work done by our diversity & inclusion team and our company at large have proven that diversity of talents, skills, experiences, and cultural backgrounds make our company stronger.”

Organizations joining the pledge are taking a step towards effecting positive change. New research from the Center for Talent Innovation, a nonprofit think tank, found that when employees can discuss the topic of race relations at work, they feel significantly more included and that their ideas are heard and recognized.

CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ is cultivating a new type of ecosystem centered around collaboration and sharing. The actions, available via CEOAction.com, showcase real-life examples of the open and transparent conversations to cultivate more diverse and inclusive workplace environments. The addition of new signatories will expand the impact of this work beyond the office to communities and industries.

Nielsen continues a more than 10 year journey with its commitment to diversity & inclusion by challenging its leaders and associates to reflect the diversifying populations around the globe. The following highlights some more recent initiatives:  

• Nielsen’s nine employee resource groups recently co-hosted a fourth-annual ERG Experience Week. Designed to showcase the benefits and impact of employee resource groups (ERGs) globally, associates hosted professional development sessions that reached more than 5,000 employees, executed 65 client events, and launched over 30 ERG chapters globally—increasing ERG membership by 25%.
• The company’s most diverse leadership development program, Diverse Leadership Network (DLN)—a 15-month ‘mini-MBA,’ where high-performing, mid-career associates receive holistic leadership education—entered its fifth year, having thus far engaged over 100 associates from the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Nielsen has advanced 83% of program alumni to new roles within the company in addition to having a 70% lower turnover rate among participants than the total company population.
• In the U.S., the company continues to publish the Diverse Intelligence Series (DIS) reports, which highlight the power of diverse consumers. The reports began as a way to measure the buying power of African-American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Asian American consumers, but has since expanded to highlight the power of LGBTQ consumers, military consumers, and households impacted by physical and mental disabilities. These reports empower Nielsen’s clients to drive business goals in a rapidly diversifying U.S. population, and the insights from the reports have garnered media mentions in mainstream, business, and culturally relevant publications in many languages. The first DIS report of 2017 focused on Asian American consumers and is titled Asian American Women: Digitally Fluent with an Intercultural Mindset.

“At Nielsen, we’re creating a culture where we are truly inclusive of the diversity of ideas, experiences, backgrounds, and cultural nuances of each of our associates around the globe in an effort to drive superior results for our clients,” said Angela Talton, Chief Diversity Officer, Nielsen. “By joining the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, Mitch is accentuating our commitment to infusing D&I into everything we do, which sends an empowering message to our associates around the world. Additionally, the exchange of ideas and best practices amongst participating companies, which include many of our clients, will be invaluable as we work together to make workplaces around the world more inclusive of the diversity that defines us.”  

To learn more about the pledge, visit CEOAction.com.

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers watch and buy. Nielsen’s Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services for all devices on which content—video, audio, and text—is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry’s only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen also provides its clients with analytics that help improve performance.  Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries, covering more than 90% of the world’s population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

About CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™

CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace. Bringing together more than 250 CEOs of America’s leading organizations, the commitment outlines actions that participating companies pledge to take to cultivate a workplace where diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and respected, employees feel comfortable and encouraged to discuss diversity and inclusion, and where best known—and unsuccessful—actions can be shared across organizations. Learn more at CEOAction.com and connect with us on Facebook: CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion and Twitter: @CEOAction.

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