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Promote Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We aim to support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce, marketplace, and society.

DE&I Colleagues

Promote Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Goals

  • Maintain 100% pay equity across genders globally and across races and ethnicities in the US
  • Double annual spend with underrepresented-owned suppliers in the US from a 2019 baseline to $750 million by the end of 2024, including increasing spend with Black-owned suppliers to at least $100 million annually
  • Provide access to capital and financial education to at least 250,000 underrepresented-owned small- and medium-sized businesses in the US from late 2020 through 2024
  • Develop more inclusive marketing initiatives, as well as design and build product experiences and programs that better meet the needs of underrepresented consumer and business customers
  • Provide $50 million in grants from late 2020 through 2024 to nonprofits focused on addressing inequality and promoting social justice, including those led by members of underrepresented groups
  • Increase the representation of American Express Leadership Academy participants in the US who are from underrepresented groups from 50% in 2019 to 75% by the end of 2024

Strategy Into Action: Exceeding $1 Billion of Spend Toward Our DE&I Action Plan, Announcing an Additional $3 Billion

When we announced our $1 billion Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Action Plan in October of 2020, we sought to build on our foundation of supporting diverse representation and equal opportunities for our colleagues, customers, and communities. As of March 2022, we exceeded $1 billion in spending toward our DE&I Action Plan, ahead of schedule. Building on our progress, we now plan to spend an additional $3 billion toward DE&I initiatives—for an ambition to spend $4 billion in total from late 2020 through the end of 2025. The majority of additional spend will continue to be allocated to underrepresented-owned suppliers.

Action Plan

2021-2022 Progress and Highlights

  • Spent more than $1 billion since announcing our DE&I Action Plan in October 2020 through March 2022 and announced an additional $3 billion toward DE&I initiatives through 2025
  • Maintained 100% pay equity across genders globally and across races and ethnicities in the US for the 2nd consecutive year
  • More than $14 million in grants provided to nonprofits focused on addressing inequality and promoting social justice, including those led by members of underrepresented groups, since announcing our goal of $50 million in October 2020 as part of our DEI Action Plan
  • 76% of US participants in the American Express Leadership Academy in 2021 were from underrepresented groups, exceeding our goal of 75% by 2024

Backing Our Colleagues

We are committed to delivering a great colleague experience at American Express. We seek to foster an inclusive environment where colleagues can grow and develop in ways that are unique and meaningful to them and have the backing and flexibility they need to bring their authentic selves to work and thrive in their professional and personal lives.

  • Maintaining 100% Pay Equity & Providing Transparency: For the second consecutive year, American Express maintained 100% pay equity across genders globally, and across races and ethnicities in the U.S., and published comprehensive disclosures on the diversity representation among its global colleague base. The disclosures in our 2021-2022 ESG Report include new details about the hiring, promotion and retention of colleagues in the U.S. broken down by race and ethnicity.1
Footnotes

1US racially/ethnically diverse colleagues based on US EEO-1 categories including Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native American or Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and two or more races.

Backing Our Colleagues
esg-report
For more information on our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion goals and initiatives, read our 2021-2022 ESG Report.
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