Dear Sneaker Brands: We Need More Executive Leadership, Not More Promises
Image: @jordanmfields
Foot Locker, Inc. is joining the fight against racial inequality and injustice with a $200 million USD initiative.
In a letter penned by CEO Richard Johnson, he notes that the foundation of Foot Locker’s business is the major influence of the Black community in sneaker culture. The $200 million USD initiative will unfold over the next five years, “enhancing the lives of our team members and our customers in the Black Community through Economic Development and Education.”
This is a sentiment we’ve seen throughout the month of June when the sneaker industry’s response to the revolution was a domino effect of Black support and blacked out squares with every scroll; highlighted by their own internal and external calls to action, and donations that reached hundreds of millions of dollars. While the sentiments and donations are kind, they are still not enough to make significant changes within a community that is rooted in Black culture but lacking severely in Black corporate representation.
The broken systems that permeate within the sneaker industry are a result of a hierarchy that benefits tremendously from Black consumers and lower level Black employees while the corporate culture is set largely by white males. You need look no further than the Boards and Executive Leadership of Foot Locker, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance, Under Armour, and Puma just to name a few.
Let’s be clear: sneakers are booming. With projected sales of $95.1 BILLION by 2025, sneakers are on pace to eclipse luxury goods. This is exclusively important for Black and Brown people within the corporate structure of the thriving sneaker business, which absolutely would not exist in it’s current form, if not for us.
That said, what needs changing? Let’s start with getting your foot in the door.
Recruitment and Retention
(Read: Getting a foot in the door guarantees nothing.)
If you’re Black and you’ve had experience in corporate America, you know that getting an interview is only the first hurdle. While many companies work directly with their HR departments on diversity goals and hiring practices, according to former Reebok recruiter Darla DeGrace, those goals are virtually non-existent with the brands she has worked with. With no key targets to actually apply that diversity and inclusion training, actively filling positions with Black people isn’t always happening.
“It’s frustrating to see images of Black women around the brand wearing the clothing and wearing the shoes but there’s nobody that looks like me that is there.”
- Julia Bond, Adidas Apparel Designer NA
Barriers to entry are very real for many of us. Whether it’s having to anticipate trepidation in relation to your name, unequal educational expectations, or general hiring biases, even when Black people get their foot in the door, the glass ceiling is still very much in place. Said, DeGrace:
...our white counterparts frequently show up with nothing but potential. But, when it comes to diverse hires, you’re basically looking to fill junior roles with overqualified, highly educated, experienced, and accomplished Black professionals.”
We saw the direct effects of this just a few weeks ago at Adidas’ North American Headquarters when 150 Black employees presented Adidas leadership with a State of Emergency complaint and calls to action. But, the real issues don’t lie only within hiring and the corporate management within the sneaker industry.
Unfortunately, even when companies throw effort into changing their recruiting, hiring, and on-boarding procedure, many fail to address the microaggressions and institutional biases that shape company culture.
This lack of alignment among goals is disillusioning to diverse employees, who come to regret their position and end up leaving for better opportunities.
Still, those of us who have been managers in corporate settings recognize that there’s only so much change you can do in a management position. Real change begins when we circle back to that glass ceiling and the decisions that go above management pay grade.
Executives + Board of Directors
(Read: Look here, it tells the story well)
Corporate governance is the guiding arm of any company and is responsible for making sure that the four P’s are optimized for corporate sustainability: people, performance, process and purpose. Diversity and inclusion are driven by the company culture (people and purpose) and the executive board is the primary force influencing corporate governance. The board of directors for Nike is roughly 15% black and 31% female. The supervisory board for Puma is 16% black and 33% female. Adidas’ executive board is 0% black and 17% female.
Note: These are 2018 diversity numbers for Nike’s General (incl. sales, lower, mid, and upper management), Director, and Vice President-level employees. This does not include Board data. To see the full 2019 representation report, including breakdowns by race, click here.
Here’s something we all know: change comes from the top. More diverse boards generally leads to the kinds of changes that trickle down to even the most junior employees. When employees of color are governed by boards and executive leaders in which they fail to see racial representation, whether intended or not, that sends a very clear message that they have virtually no allies above certain levels.
At the end of the day though, this is business and business is governed largely by profits. According to McKinsey & Company’s report, Delivering Through Diversity, a company that has significant ethnic/cultural diversity yields a 33% likelihood of out performance on EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) margins.
Successful companies recognize that a lack of diversity and inclusion can put revenue at risk, increase employee turnover, and reduce customer loyalty.
What now?
(Read: Remember your power.)
Aside from being the right thing to do, there is absolutely an economic incentive for brands to align with Black consumers and it has to do with our buying power. That would be $1.3 trillion. While we are still in a strong circle of crises (hello, pandemic and racism being alive and well) and must continue to fight within the systems to see change, we also need to be aware of our own power by helping ourselves and lifting as we climb.
One reason Adidas employees were able to organize so quickly is due to an employee resource group they formed within the company prior to 2020. This group, designed to be a safe space of sorts for employees of color, mobilized within a week. Individually, we have to do better at looking out for ourselves as we climb corporate ranks. Creating in-house mandatory mentorship programs, job referrals, using your access to work directly with Black-centered job boards, and ensuring that a certain number of candidates come from HBCU’s allow those inside the walls to work within.
In whatever space we’re in, it’s important to hold ourselves, as talented, educated, amazing Black individuals, accountable to ourselves. Regularly setting our own growth projections, taking accountability for our progress, identifying our allies and taking the necessary steps to maintain those connections are all ways we can strengthen our own contributions.
Lastly, while the buck ultimately stops with the brand, those of us who create content with brands (I’m including CNK here, BTW) are effectively representations of both brands and the communities we serve. We too must be accountable for the brands we work with and the products we push. As content creators, we have an absolute responsibility to protect the culture that we profit off of. If the social entrepreneurs you follow can be vocal about the next release or about product drops, we can also speak up for change, for truth and, be perfectly fine with taking our talents elsewhere when brands don’t honor the communities we serve.
Revolutions don’t come along often. From companies, to content creators, to consumers, if we’re going to demand change, we all have to do our part.