Institutional racism, systemic injustice, racial inequality, and police brutality against the Black community—today, yesterday, and throughout centuries past—cannot and must not continue. The outrage and grief we are all expressing over the callous and unjust deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others, lay bare the daily injustices borne by the Black community and force us to reckon with a broken system that continues to oppress.

Since opening our doors more than 60 years ago, we have worked to foster environments where all individuals feel welcome in our hotels. Inclusion and diversity are at the core of our purpose—to care for people so they can be their best—so we must be deeply involved in actions that fight racial injustice and inequality.

As a company that stands with the Black community and with all people who suffer from discrimination and prejudice, we continue to uphold our vision of a world of understanding and care through our words and actions—but even more importantly, we call upon ourselves to do better and be better. Change starts here.

We are immediately taking the following actions, in the following areas: who we employ and develop, who we support, and who we buy from and work with.

Who We Employ, Develop, and Advance

Hyatt has made significant strides in building strong Diversity Business Resource Groups, launching our Global Inclusion & Diversity Council, training our People Managers on how to lead inclusively, and driving inclusion and diversity into our talent management practices. There is still more to do.

• We are committed to focusing on hiring, promoting, and retaining diverse talent to increase representation of women and people of color. We will be particularly focused on ensuring our leadership better reflects the rest of the organization and the communities in which we operate—this will require us to work to ensure equity in our own internal processes.
• We will continue the work to ensure a level playing field for career growth for all colleagues, through ensuring compliance with our Internal Recruiting & Hiring Guidelines and requiring a diverse slate of candidates for all leadership roles.
• We will audit our hiring and promotion processes to ensure they are delivering diverse candidates in the selection process and continue to link achievement of our inclusion and diversity goals to compensation for leaders at Hyatt.

Who We Support

We have a long history of focusing on providing opportunities to Opportunity Youth in underprivileged communities and have invested millions of dollars in helping to promote and support expanded job opportunities as part of our RiseHY program.

The economic impact of COVID-19 on our industry has been a significant setback on this journey, but no matter the current economic circumstances for our industry, we remain committed to expanding our work.

Specifically, Hyatt is committing to invest $1 million in addition to other RiseHY investments in the following areas:

• We will magnify our long-term focus on helping Opportunity Youth prepare for and secure good jobs, especially for the Black members of our communities who suffer some of the highest rates of unemployment.
• We will invest in our Chicagoland hometown community by supporting organizations committed to strengthening the support network for underserved populations, with a special focus on members of the Black population and young people in those communities.
• We will invest in initiatives that support Black- and other minority-owned businesses with a philanthropic focus on our hometown, Chicago.

Who We Buy From and Partner With

We know that economic inequality is at the root of systemic injustice. Black- and minority-owned businesses are more likely to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. We see an opportunity to help rebuild these businesses as we rebuild our own.

• We are focused on expanding our purchasing with minority-owned businesses, and especially those that are Black-owned.
• We commit to partnering with organizations to significantly increase the inclusion of diverse suppliers in our supply chain opportunities, evaluate strategic investments in diverse businesses, and provide subject-matter expertise to help businesses navigate these unprecedented business circumstances.

We pledge these commitments to our colleagues, guests, customers, hotel owners and communities around the world to fight systemic racism and achieve equality together.