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Comcast commits $100 million 'to fight injustice and inequality' in multi-year plan
Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts announced Monday the company has pledged to spend $100 million "to fight injustice and inequality against any race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation or ability" as part of a multi-year initiative.
Roberts laid out a plan that would be helmed by EVP and Chief Diversity Officer for NBCUniversal, Craig Robinson — one that involved the categories of social justice, awareness and education, digital equity, small business opportunity, and Comcast's own employees. The funds would be split as "$75 million in cash and $25 million in media," as part of a three-year rollout plan. (SYFY, SYFY WIRE, and NBCUniversal are owned by Comcast.)
The pledge includes partnerships with and grants to organizations like the National Urban League, Equal Justice Initiative, NAACP, National Action Network, and Community Justice Action Fund. Additional "Town Halls, speaker series and mandatory anti-racism and anti-bias training" will permeate Comcast's companies while its media resources work on "highlighting Black voices and Black stories."
That commitment will also manifest as a series of Town Halls broadcast on NBC News. These will supplement more grassroots initiatives like connecting low-income households to the internet, supporting STEM skills in "under-resourced communities," and committing a "substantial" amount of funds to "businesses owned by people of color" that were shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Roberts wrote that this plan came about after speaking with employees and "leaders across Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal and Sky," with the explicit goal of "real, sustainable action" in the face of "structural racism." He concluded his statement by writing, "Together we are facing a painful yet powerful moment — one that presents us with a renewed opportunity to do better, and to create substantive and sustainable change."
More information about these initiatives is coming in the following weeks.
