Dallas Regional Chamber’s inaugural DEI survey finds challenging disparities

Texas can be a double-edged sword. It’s among the best in the nation for business due to its workforce and economy, but among the worst for health and inclusion, according to CNBC’s 2022 ranking. The state’s dueling titles are a motivator for the Dallas business community to study local companies’ initiatives aimed at creating more equitable workplaces and enact long-term change. “When we look at that type of information, that’s the why,” said Hattie Hill, president and CEO of TD Jakes Foundation, at a Dallas Regional Chamber event Tuesday on the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in North Texas. “That’s why we’re all here today. Because we believe in the region, we believe in Texas, we definitely believe in Dallas.”

The chamber sent out a 72-question survey to its nearly 400 members with an active DEI contact. Only a quarter submitted responses for the chamber’s inaugural benchmark report on local companies’ DEI efforts. More than half of the participating companies have a dedicated DEI department or team, and nearly 70% have a chief diversity officer. But counter to best practices, less than a third of the surveyed companies’ chief diversity officers report directly to a CEO, according to the report. “This is a signal to the entire workforce as far as how DEI is prioritized in the organization,” said Mandy Price, co-founder and CEO of Kanarys, a diversity-focused tech company that partnered with the chamber to compile the report. In 2018, the city ranked near the bottom for overall inclusion, coming in 272nd among 274 of the largest U.S. cities, according to the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The benchmark report aims to provide chamber members a data-informed look at the current DEI landscape and outline actionable steps to create long-lasting change in companies, Price said. Of the 101 participating companies, three-quarters are for-profit and less than a fifth are nonprofits. About a third of the surveyed companies are professional services and 13% are from the banking and financial sector.