Welcome to the home of the first-ever Civil Rights Audit Standards, a new tool for U.S. businesses to promote nondiscrimination, win the trust of stakeholders, and advance responsible business practices.
The Civil Rights Audit Standards are action oriented and designed for this moment: a civil rights audit conducted in line with these Standards can be a powerful prophylactic to identify and mitigate bias and discrimination risk and help ensure equal opportunities for all people. An independent committee comprising business executives, investors, worker advocates, and civil rights experts developed and approved the Standards.
The Standards set a roadmap for how businesses should conduct a civil rights audit with clear performance criteria and guidance across nine key areas of an audit — from the scope of an audit to the qualifications of the independent auditor and meaningfully conducting stakeholder engagement.
While many companies have conducted civil rights audits, there has been considerable variance in the scope of audits, the processes adopted, and the public transparency of audit results. The Standards provide the necessary consistency and clarity around how to conduct an audit that will win stakeholder trust, support business success, and advance equity for all.
Together with our partners, PolicyLink is working toward a future where everyone can participate fairly in our economy and democracy and access what they need to thrive. We know businesses have a powerful and essential role to play in making this positive future a reality and performance-focused tools like the Civil Rights Audit Standards are needed to guide the way forward.
Learn More About Our Launch
About the Standards Development Team
The standards are released by the independent Civil Rights Audit Standards Committee, PolicyLink, and CapEQ, an impact investing and advisory firm.
The Civil Rights Audit Standards Committee
The Committee is a diverse, cross-sector group of 11 professionals, including business executives, civil rights experts, investors, and worker advocates, who developed the Standards through a collaborative process over 12 months. Committee members serve in their individual capacity, not as representatives of their employers or other institutions. The current composition of the Committee is listed below (organization names are listed only for identification purposes).
- Evan Feeney, Color of Change; Chair of the Committee
- Renaye Manley, Research Fellow at Harvard Law School Center for Labor and a Just Economy; Vice Chair of the Committee
- Roy Austin, Meta Platforms
- Megan Cacace, Airbnb
- Jennifer Conovitz, New York City Office of the Comptroller
- Paul Francisco, State Street
- Mahlet Getachew, PolicyLink
- Hyewon Han, Trillium Asset Management
- Laura Murphy, Laura Murphy & Associates
- Tejal Patel, SOC Investment Group
- Dariely Rodriguez, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Committee will review the Standards on at least an annual basis to ensure they continue to meet their intended purpose and goals of supporting credible, comprehensive, and effective civil rights audits. Any updates made to the Standards will be publicly announced and published on this page.
Secretariat & Support Team
PolicyLink is serving as the Secretariat for the Standards, which includes hosting the Standards, leading implementation strategy, and managing the Committee and other administrative matters.
Farhana Khera, civil rights lawyer and the lead drafter of the Standards, serves as advisor to the Committee.
CapEQ incubated and brought the Standards to market, including selecting key partners, experts, and researchers, while also managing a pilot training program for aspiring civil rights auditors. CapEQ will continue to partner with PolicyLink in designing and implementing ongoing civil rights auditor training programs to help build the ecosystem of qualified independent auditors well-versed in the Standards.
Learn More About Our Sister Initiative
The Civil Rights Audit Standards are a core component of the Corporate Racial Equity Alliance’s Business Standards for 21st Century Leadership — a sister initiative of which PolicyLink is also the Secretariat. Businesses and auditors can look to the Business Standards for a performance-focused roadmap grounded in principles of nondiscrimination and social responsibility to further guide the scope of audits and inform next steps coming out of an audit.
The Civil Rights Audit Standards and the Business Standards together take the guesswork out on how to conduct a robust gap analysis and what to aim for in addressing identified gaps.
Coming Soon!
- The next series of Civil Rights Auditor Training Programs will be launched in the fall of 2024 and the spring in 2025. Get in touch below to express interest in participating.
- A directory of independent civil rights auditors who are well-versed in the Civil Rights Audit Standards will be released in the fall of 2024. Get in touch below to express interest in being included or to learn how to explore retaining one of these trained auditors.
Get in Touch
Email us at CivilRightsStandards@policylink.org with any questions or to express interest in the upcoming opportunities above.