As part of an ongoing Viewpoint Diversity Score initiative, Alliance Defending Freedom and collaborating partner Inspire Investing last week invited 100 companies on the Fortune 1000 list to participate in the survey component of the upcoming 2023 Business Index.
Corporations have until Nov. 18 to respond to the survey, which accounts for at least 21 index criteria. Many more of the over 40 total questions that comprise the index are scored partially based on company-provided disclosures.
“Leaders of corporations are quick to tout their transparency on a host of ESG issues and other politically motivated indexes produced by left-wing interest groups. We should all expect equal transparency from corporations when it comes to their respect for religious and viewpoint diversity,” said ADF Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President for Corporate Engagement Jeremy Tedesco. “These factors are important to every American no matter their political or religious beliefs—and that’s even more urgent when it comes to companies that control access to essential business services. Shareholders, employees, and consumers want to know whether corporations are providing impartial access to these services or becoming tools of cancel culture. Filling out this survey is an important step toward gaining that understanding.”
Survey questions explore topics such as respect and accommodation for employees with diverse ideological and religious beliefs, vendor and contractor policies, charitable giving policies, public advocacy practices on hot-button social issues, and more.
Released in May, the inaugural Business Index is the first comprehensive benchmark designed to measure corporate respect for religious and ideological diversity in the market, workplace, and public square. The index focuses on industries that have the greatest potential to impact free speech and religious freedom. These include industries that provide essential banking, payment processing, and cloud services, or that serve as platforms for third-party expression in the digital space.
Many of the companies are household names, like Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), Twitter, and Bank of America. The current survey is also soliciting responses from Disney, Netflix, Lyft, Uber, Verizon, and Progressive Insurance, among new companies added to the list. Along with scoring companies, Viewpoint Diversity Score also provides them with workable solutions through model policies, research, toolkits, polling, and constructive dialogue.
“There are millions of shareholders, consumers, and employees who feel left behind by corporate America,” said Inspire Investing CEO Robert Netzly, whose Christian investing and financial technology firm informs investment decisions on billions of dollars around the globe. “Corporate leaders have a golden opportunity to reassure each of these key groups that they are doing their part to preserve the foundational freedoms that make a thriving marketplace possible.”