Sony Launches Racial Equity & Inclusion Initiative Sony Pictures Action

Anthony D'Alessandro
·5 min read

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Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra shared with employees today details about the studio’s racial equity and inclusion initiative program, Sony Pictures Action.

Sony Pictures Action will provide financial support to organizations dedicated to racial justice and reform, while building and expanding the studio’s internal diversity and inclusion program. Sony Pictures Action will be led by Paul Martin, SPE’s Chief Diversity Officer, and Keith Weaver, EVP Global Policy, Government Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility, with Stacy Green, SPE’s Chief People Officer, providing oversight and guidance.

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Sony Pictures Action will donate and provide through an employee match program to such organizations as Advancement Project, American Black Film Festival, Collateral Consequences of Conviction Justice Project (LMU Loyola Law School), Community Coalition, Equal Justice Initiative, Fair Count, Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington, National Urban League, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Vera Institute of Justice.

Sony Pictures Action’ssupport of outside organizations will be done in partnership with Sony Music Group’s $100 million Global Social Justice Fund announced last week. Sony Pictures Entertainment will also be helping to distribute those $100M funds.

In enhancing Sony’s current diversity and inclusion efforts, Sony Pictures Action will program a speaker series and roundtable discussions for staffers involving leadership, partners and talent; virtual town halls pertaining to social issues impacting employees and will expand their with the Neuroleadership Institute on unconscious bias training. Additionally, Sony will continue to expand their Diverse Directors Program, providing storytellers with additional opportunities to connect with creative executives, showrunners and producers.

Here is the following email to staff from Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra:

Last week, we announced our participation in Sony Music Group’s $100 million Global Social Justice Fund and the creation of a multi-pronged racial equity and inclusion initiative, called Sony Pictures Action. I wanted to update you on our next steps as part of this ongoing effort and how employees can get involved.

As we announced, Sony Pictures Action will focus on providing financial support to external partner organizations dedicated to racial justice and reform, and internally on enhancing and adding to our existing Diversity and Inclusion programs. The initiative will be run by a Leadership Council that includes executives from across SPE and led by Paul Martin, SPE’s Chief Diversity Officer, and Keith Weaver, EVP Global Policy, Government Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility. Stacy Green, SPE’s Chief People Officer, will provide oversight and guidance.

Sony Pictures Action will be anchored on four pillars: our People, our Content, our Partners and our Community, and operate around four verticals:

–Individual Education and Development
–Social Injustice / Policy Reform
–Authentic Storytelling
–(Re)building Communities

EXTERNAL SUPPORT

A key part of Sony Pictures Action will be financial support for external organizations, through corporate sponsorships and an employee match program. In addition to organizations already identified by Sony Music Group for their matching program – including Black Lives Matter, The Innocence Project, and others – SPE will be supporting the following organizations.

Advancement Project
American Black Film Festival (Film Life Foundation site will be available for donations soon)
Collateral Consequences of Conviction Justice Project (LMU Loyola Law School)
Community Coalition
Equal Justice Initiative
Fair Count
Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington
National Urban League
NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
Vera Institute of Justice

For our matching program, employees can contribute to any of the organizations listed above and have their donations amplified with a 1:1 matching contribution by SPE. To submit a request for this special match, email an online receipt of your donation (made to an approved organization listed above) to SPE_CSR@spe.sony.com and include your work telephone number and company e-mail address. (The organizations listed above are all U.S.-based. We are also exploring a number of international organizations.)

INTERNAL PROGRAMMING

Within SPE, planning is currently underway for several programs that will build on our current Diversity and Inclusion efforts. An initial set of activities include speaker series and roundtable discussions involving leadership, partners and talent; virtual town halls to engage about experiences and solutions to social issues impacting employees; expanded work with the Neuroleadership Institute on unconscious bias training; and building out programs such as our Diverse Directors Program to present writers and directors with additional opportunities to connect with creative executives, showrunners and producers. The Leadership Council will be prioritizing these and other activities and rolling out specific initiatives over the next few weeks.

SPE’s leadership recognizes the need for continued conversations and dialogue to help educate one another through mutual respect and we encourage you to participate in Sony Pictures Action activities where you can. These are just the first steps to making a lasting impact, and we look forward to sharing more.

Tony

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