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Business Equity for Indy announced Wednesday its first Workforce Pilot program. The goal is to support Indianapolis-based businesses in making equitable and diverse workspaces.
Business Equity for Indy (BEI) will work with 19 small and mid-sized businesses in the Indianapolis area over the next two years. The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation will fund the project with a $600,000 grant.
Taylor Hughes, vice president of policy and Strategy at the Indy Chamber, said this kind of backend work is an important part of more companies building and retaining diverse teams.
“We essentially want to make what is the right thing and what is the best thing for the business the easiest decision and remove as many of those barriers for an employer as possible,” Hughes said.
Hughes said diversity and inclusivity efforts like these spark innovation and competition.
“We believe that companies can do things that go beyond just pure compliance and into making that a supportive and welcoming environment for their employees,” Hughes said. “And not just as a thing that's the good for the employee and shows that the company values them and their contribution to the organization, but also as a competitiveness strategy for the employer to attract employees like that to their company.”
Business Equity for Indy will publicly track the progress of the workforce pilot on its website.
The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation is among the financial supporters of initiatives based at WFYI.
Contact WFYI economic equity reporter Sydney Dauphinais at sdauphinais@wfyi.org.
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