Our DE&I Strategy

We know that it will take intentional, relentless action and focus to achieve our aspirational commitments.

We leveraged a data-driven approach to develop our strategy, delving into company data to better understand demographic and cultural gaps and opportunities across our workforce. We also benchmarked against best-in-class processes, programs and partnerships to help accelerate our impact. We aim to enhance the elements of our strategy as we advance in our journey.

Malesia Dunn (she/her/hers). Executive Director of the PPG Foundation and Corporate Global Social Responsibility.
Colleagues
  • Continue updating our DE&I scorecard and embed accountability mechanisms to drive results.
  • Enhance our recruiting processes with a DE&I lens, including scaling our diverse slates process globally for non-frontline roles.
  • Foster partnerships with external organizations that will diversify our talent pool.
  • Nurture a DE&I ambassador group composed of senior leaders who serve as change agents for our strategic business units and functions.
  • Build and execute a strategy to grow DE&I capabilities for all employees globally.
  • Grow and elevate our employee resource networks (ERNs) to support career development and provide business value.
  • Build and launch site-activation kits to allow our frontline employees to participate in global ERN events.
  • Develop and deploy a mentoring program specifically for our ERN members.
  • Scale a sponsorship program for women, Black, Latinx and Asian non-frontline top talent to build a more diverse leadership pipeline.
  • Engage in regular global employee self-identification campaigns to validate employee representation data, identify gaps and inform future tactics.
  • Develop and share DE&I data and an impact summary internally and externally on an annual basis.
Customers and Suppliers
  • Further embed DE&I into our environmental, social and governance (ESG) and stakeholder engagement strategies.
  • Share and collaborate with our suppliers and customers regarding our respective DE&I journeys.
  • Review and enhance our Supplier Diversity Program on a regular basis.
Communities
  • Execute a community engagement strategy to create pathways and impacts that address systemic racism and advance social justice. Learn more about how we support our communities and neighbors.
  • Continue our global Colorful Communities program to unite the power of our paint products and our employee volunteers to brighten neighborhoods and transform the way people think and feel about their surroundings and experiences. See more on how we transform diverse communities around the world.

What impacts me the most as we close out the first official year of the LGBTQ+ ERN is the sense of belonging we have created. Our topics have brought coworkers closer together by learning that our stories impact those around us, even in the workplace. We added PPG recognition for awareness around Transgender Awareness and International Pronoun days. We have helped parents find support for themselves and their transgender children. Additionally, the LGBTQ+ ERN has worked diligently to add pronouns to the U.S. corporate signature tag so all employees feel their gender is appropriately referenced.

Robin Quinn (she/her/they/them)
PPG National Sales Manager, Renovation/Remodel, Architectural Coatings

For me, there is nothing more motivating and rewarding than knowing that your work has a positive impact in other people’s lives. Being part of PPG’s employee resource networks, either as a member, a pillar leader or an ally, awakens the feeling of fulfilment and pride. This is because we contribute directly to building a more diverse, inclusive and egalitarian work environment and society while at the same time having the opportunity to learn from our amazing colleagues. My biggest learnings from this experience? How to be more empathetic, respectful and kind to one another.

Camila Gazotto (she/her/hers)
PPG Senior Communications Associate

Our Most Recent Progress

While the following list is not comprehensive of every pivotal achievement in 2020 and 2021, we hope it inspires our stakeholders.

...
Colleagues
  • Appointed a dedicated DE&I leader. In November 2020, we appointed Marvin Mendoza as our first global head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. We recognize that one person alone or human resources acting independently cannot evolve our culture and drive progress across tens of thousands of employees. This is a team effort. Our DE&I efforts are championed by Michael McGarry, PPG chairman and chief executive officer, and our efforts have full and complete support from our Operating Committee.
  • Conducted a meeting with a seasoned DE&I consultant following George Floyd’s murder to help members of our Operating Committee learn how to better engage and support underrepresented colleagues.
  • Developed and launched an aspirational DE&I vision and strategy. By mid-2021, our DE&I vision, strategy and scorecard were shared with our Executive Committee, Operating Committee, Board of Directors and employees.
  • Started biannual DE&I scorecard discussions with strategic business units and functions to drive transparency and accountability.
  • Grew our employee resource networks. We enhanced and further empowered three existing ERNs and launched five additional networks for expanded representation in 2021. By the end of the year, our eight ERNs had grown to more than 7,000 members and expanded to more than 60 countries. More than 11,000 employees (approximately 23% of our employees) participated in 2021 ERN virtual events, and 18% of ERN members belonged to more than one ERN.
  • Launched an internal DE&I ambassador group composed of leaders who are members of our strategic business unit and function global leadership teams. These global ambassadors serve as change agents across the company, helping embed a sense of belonging for all.
  • Achieved meaningful improvement in inclusion in our 2021 Employee Voice Survey. Specifically, employees indicated substantial improvement in our commitment to building the strengths of each employee and being treated with respect.
  • Conducted our first ESG survey in 2021, with our employees indicating PPG excels in DE&I.
  • Accelerated our diverse recruitment. We launched a pilot program in the U.S. that allows us to use labor market data to build data-driven diverse candidate slates. We are also exploring additional ways that we can increase our diverse recruitment by casting a wider net and engaging with diverse colleges, universities and diversity-focused organizations.
  • Extended our unconscious-bias training efforts. We are expanding and promoting our global unconscious-bias training course across the organization, with a primary focus on people managers. In recent years, we have trained more than 4,600 people managers and employees.
  • Continued listening to underrepresented employees. PPG leaders from all strategic business units and functions are continuing to listen to employees from across the globe and at all levels. We have connected with thousands of employees in these meetings and in group forums to hear their stories to learn and understand the opportunities ahead of us.
  • Partnered with diversity-focused organizations, including the National Association of Asian American Professionals and the National Society of Black Engineers to increase the diversity of our talent pool, provide opportunities for career development and leverage leading practices to enhance a sense of belonging across the enterprise.
  • Recognized Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an official company holiday in the U.S.
  • Began offering female-fit uniforms globally to help boost performance and bridge an equity gap, with the U.S. and Canada region kicking off the initiative in November 2021.
  • Launched Project Pronoun, which is a U.S. initiative that encourages employees to include their pronouns in emails, presentations and other communication avenues.
  • Improved infertility health benefits by removing the diagnosis of infertility as a requirement and increasing the lifetime maximum.
  • Expanded gender-affirmation health benefit coverage to include expenses that were not covered previously.
  • Added hearing-aid coverage to our health benefit package.
...
Customers and Suppliers
  • Delivered multiple DE&I-related projects for customers, such as rainbow crosswalks in cities to celebrate Pride Month and large murals of leaders in the social justice movement on exterior building facades.
  • Evaluated our paint color names to make them more inclusive and reflective of our values. Our Architectural Coatings global color team renamed 41 PPG VOICE OF COLOUR™ and 36 DULUX™ paint and stain colors.
  • Completed key acquisitions of Cetelon, Ennis-Flint, Tikkurila, VersaFlex and Wörwag. This infusion of new employees brought fresh ideas, perspectives and insights that are not only delivering results to customers and stakeholders but also helping advance our DE&I efforts.
  • Our Black Employee Network hosted a virtual webcast on why diverse teams perform better and invited two PPG customers to serve as panelists during the impactful discussion.
...
Communities
  • Invested $13.3 million in our communities globally in 2021.
  • Doubled our standard employee donation match program during June 2020 to support social justice organizations that have a mission focused on racial equalities and anti-racism.
  • Through the work of our employee volunteers, revitalized the Guardian Angel Autism Rehabilitation Center in Tianjin, China, which cares for children with autism.
  • The PPG Foundation and Neighborhood Academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, teamed up for Female Focus, a 14-week program designed to inspire high school girls to engage in hands-on STEM activities and career exploration.
...
Recognition

We are proud of the recognition our DE&I efforts have received over the years. Below are just a few recognition highlights, with many being bestowed over multiple and consecutive years.

  • Human Rights Campaign Foundation: 100% rating on Corporate Equality Index
  • Fortune: World's Most Admired Companies
  • Forbes: America's Best Employers
  • Forbes: Best Places to Work for Women
  • Forbes: Best Employers for Women
  • Forbes Central America: Most Admired Companies in the Region for Central America and the Dominican Republic
  • JUST Capital: America's Most Just Companies
  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP): Equity, Inclusion and Empowerment Index
  • Newsweek: Most Responsible Companies
  • Workplace Gender Equality Agency: Employer of Choice for Gender Equality in Australia