14 business leaders making corporate America more inclusive in an increasingly polarized society

Key accomplishments: In addition to increasing racial and gender diversity at Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, Bowser launched the firm's Rising Fellows program, a three-week virtual curriculum aimed at expanding access to the financial services industry for students in their first year of college. He also worked with leaders at Barnard College to create mentorship and internship opportunities to encourage more women to join the investment industry.

Encouraging leadership within employee-resource groups was also a big focus for Bowser. In 2021, Bridgewater compensated 16 employees for their impact on and leadership of the company's employee-affinity networks. On average, the size of the bonus that leaders received was $8,750, a company spokesperson said.

In their own words: Bowser previously told Insider that increasing diversity was part of building a true "idea meritocracy," the term Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater, uses to describe an environment where people disagree thoughtfully and ultimately reach better outcomes than they could individually. "That's rooted in bringing lots of diverse perspectives together," Bowser said.

Key accomplishments: Cabret-Lewis was a key player in the insurer's $25 million investment in the Black Economic Development Fund, an investment vehicle that seeks to help close the racial-wealth gap. The fund targets Black-led financial institutions and Black-led businesses.

Cabret-Lewis also had a role in the decision by Dan Amos, the CEO of Aflac, to sign onto CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, a pledge started by PwC's US Chair, Tim Ryan, among others. The business chiefs who are signatories commit to advance diversity and inclusion within their companies.

In their own words: "I'm excited to see the investments we are making in our internal talent-development area come to fruition. We have expanded our inclusive efforts into the LGTBQ+ arena this year and hope to see more of that in the future."

Key accomplishments: Cheatham has been working to expand diversity in the world of open-source coding, data, and technology. Over the past year, Cheatham helped create All In for Students, a program that provides mentorship, training, and internship opportunities in coding to students from historically Black colleges and universities.

Under the program, 30 students complete a 10-week open-source-coding training program. GitHub, which makes software-development tools, then places the students in summer internships within GitHub or at other companies including Cisco, Microsoft, Fidelity, and Intel. Cheatham also created educational materials and gathered data on harassment that occurs at computer-science conferences in order to help prevent it.

In their own words: "I came from a rural area, grew up on a dirt road with no Internet access, raised by a single mom who didn't have a lot of financial resources. I went to a minority-serving institution, majored in computer science although never had access to a computer until I got there, and applied to and was accepted into the same types of diversity programs that I try to create. I know what it's like to be overlooked, overworked, and othered. And on the flip side, I know what it's like to have someone see you, believe in you, value you and your uniqueness, give you opportunities, mentor you and sponsor you."

Key accomplishments: Childs helped with American Express' issuance of its first-ever ESG bond, valued at $1 billion. An ESG bond is a debt instrument that comes with environmental, social, or governance objectives, including financing environmentally friendly buildings and sustainable-energy projects.

Childs also helped develop the credit-card company's "Preferred First Name" initiative for US customers, which allows them to specify a preferred name they want to use on the phone without a legal name-change process, making the customer-service experience more inclusive.

In their own words: "As we look ahead, it will be important for companies to place more emphasis on how they do things in a more inclusive way versus just generating a list of what they did. I believe that's how we'll get to more meaningful and sustained change to improve our world."

Key accomplishments: Under Domingo's leadership, Allstate worked with OneTen, a nonprofit that aims to help one million Black people who don't have a four-year degree attain what the group describes as well-paying jobs.

Under the partnership, Allstate removed the four-year-degree requirement from dozens of job postings. In 2021, 54% of new hires did not have a college degree.

In addition, the insurer increased its spending with businesses owned by people of color, women, people who identify as LGBTQ, veterans, and people with disabilities. Spending rose from $366 million in 2020 to $371 million in 2021.

In their own words: "The role of the chief diversity officer is more critical now than ever. To optimize on that thought-leadership, it's critical that they are proactively pulled in and have fluid engagement with their C-level peers."

Key accomplishments: Gillespie's work focuses on making sure the content and operations at Amazon Studios — the retailer's streaming-production company behind hits like "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" — are diverse and inclusive.

Gillespie launched the studio's first inclusion policy guide and playbook, establishing rules and guidelines to make sure all content creators the platform works with continue to seek stories that amplify voices across race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability — including mental health — body size, gender, gender identity, and gender expression.

In addition, Gillespie also grew Amazon Studios' Howard Entertainment Program, an internship pipeline for students from Howard University, a historically Black institution, to enter the entertainment industry.

In their own words: "I can't say enough about the camaraderie between the diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility professionals in our business. It played a major part in our decision to make the Inclusion Policy and Playbook an open-source document. I am excited to learn how other networks and studios iterate and expand on what we started."

Key accomplishments: Helander oversees diversity-and-inclusion efforts at Carlyle, a global investment firm with some $369 billion in assets under management and dozens of portfolio companies.

In March, she started the DEI Leadership Network, a group comprised of CEOs at the firm's portfolio companies. The goal of this network is to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. The group is slated to meet annually and develop resources on topics like unconscious bias and psychological safety.

Helander also collaborated with The Milken Institute, a think tank, to launch the DEI in Asset Management Program. The initiative researches diversity in private equity and asset management, creates materials for leaders in the industry, and hosts roundtable discussions on diversity.

In their own words: "Smart leaders and smart companies will not take their foot off the gas. They know that inclusive leadership is not a 'nice to have,' it is core to being a successful, modern leader and organization."

Key accomplishment: McGruder was instrumental in General Motors' decision to remove college-degree requirements from dozens of technical positions.

In addition, McGruder was a key creator of the automaker's "work appropriately" philosophy, which gives workers remote-work flexibility so long as their duties permit. McGruder credits this policy with helping recruit and retain women, parents, and other caregivers.

McGruder also helped expand funding for GM's employee-resource groups and worked with the nonprofit Human Rights Campaign to sign its public statement opposing what the group labeled anti-LGBTQ legislation.

In their own words: "I am grateful to have the global platform to make inroads and drive meaningful progress toward being a truly inclusive and equitable organization and am excited to do so as we add amazing electric vehicles, delivery services, and many more product offerings to the market. This requires particular attention to the people on our teams and the communities we impact as we skillfully transition our business with equity and access in mind."

Key accomplishments: Under Morrison's leadership, Levi Strauss worked with leaders at Harlem's Fashion Row, a nonprofit that supports and features work by Black and Hispanic designers, to create an education-and-mentorship program for students at Clark Atlanta University, a historically Black institution. As part of the initiative, 38 students studying fashion design had mentorship meetings with Levi Strauss executives.

Morrison is working to expand the partnership with the goal of having 15% of all hires come from Clark Atlanta University by 2025.

Also under Morrison's leadership, the clothing company published its first diversity report in 2022.

In their own words: "Diversity, equity, and inclusion has never been easy, it's historically been underfunded, underresourced, and underprioritized. While the exact conditions may have evolved, challenges are challenges, and as we've done before, we will find ways to continue to strive for equity, inclusion, and equality."

Key accomplishments: Paying particular attention to neurodiversity, Parker created a program for existing Google Cloud employees and new hires on the autism spectrum to help improve their work and onboarding experiences. She also helped develop a program for managers of employees who are on the autism spectrum; 350 managers participated.

Parker, who made Insider's list for the second straight year, also led conferences and tailored mentorship programs aimed at fostering a sense of community for specific subsets of employees, including Black directors, Black men, and women at Google. Parker has also increased Google's recruiting efforts at historically Black colleges and universities and at Hispanic-serving institutions.

She has been vocal about racially motivated violence in America, speaking with Insider shortly after a May shooting in Buffalo, New York, that left 10 Black people dead.

In their own words: "As a Black woman who has navigated corporate America, there were moments where I found myself shrinking in order to fit in. But I now see diversity as a superpower. My guiding purpose professionally has been to create spaces that better reflect the full diversity of the world we live in, and to lead by serving and lifting others so that diversity, equity, and inclusion are not lofty ideals, but part of the very fabric of our society."

Key accomplishments: At PGIM, the asset-management arm of the insurer Prudential Financial, Sayko and her team started an initiative that directed more than $30 million in grants to support various historically Black colleges and universities.

PGIM executives and recruiters also mentored dozens of students at Hampton University. Sayko is now working to create a similar partnership with Florida A&M University.

In 2018, PGIM set the goal to increase the presence of people from underrepresented backgrounds in senior leadership positions by 5% over five years. The firm is on track to meet that goal in 2023.

In their own words: "For me, this role is much harder work than any of my previous banking and markets jobs. But the ROI is greater," she said, referring to return on investment.

Key accomplishments: Thomas oversees Bank of America's $1.25 billion, five-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity. As part of that, she led the investment of $300 million to more than 100 private-equity funds to provide capital to diverse entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

Thomas also helped develop the bank's $25 million initiative to create jobs for students at historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and community colleges across the country.

In their own words: "A new generation of talent expects organizations to use their voices and resources to maintain and advance progress — I am optimistic."

Key accomplishments: Thomas spearheaded multiple programs around the hiring, advancement, and retention of talent from underrepresented backgrounds.

One of the initiatives she started is called RiseUP, a sponsorship program for directors of color. The program aims to increase these staffers' visibility within the company, the opportunities they get, and the likelihood that they'll receive a promotion.

In addition, Thomas worked with the consultancy McKinsey & Company to implement the McKinsey Management Accelerator at Upwork. The monthslong program gives early-to-mid-career leaders of color management skills with the goal of helping them get promoted.

In their own words: "The economy, the spikes in hate, and the revocation of basic human rights are connected. We are operating from a place of scarcity and fear and I think we'll be here for a few years. With that, most companies will focus on short-term profitability, which DEI simply does not yield. I'm not sweepingly optimistic about DEI through 2025, but I'm confident in orgs like Upwork that strategize with a long-range view and I trust that DEI will rebound."

Key accomplishments: Warren has been one of the most outspoken business leaders on the topic of reproductive rights in America.

In April, before the draft memo of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade leaked, Warren rolled out Yelp's benefit covering travel costs for employees seeking abortions. After the Supreme Court decision came down, dozens of industry leaders contacted Warren asking her for advice on how to provide travel benefits for employees seeking abortions, according to a Yelp spokesperson.

In March, Warren denounced what she described as anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bills in Florida and Texas. For a month, the company matched and then doubled donations from its employees to LGBTQ nonprofits.

Warren also helped drive engagement in employee-resource groups over the last year. Yelp now has 22 such groups, comprising nearly half of its 4,400 workers. Among the groups are those for people who are neurodiverse, people of color, parents, and members of the LGBTQ community.

In their own words: "The nature of diversity, inclusion, and belonging work remains as crucial as ever in the face of an increasingly and unpredictable partisan regulatory environment. It's also become increasingly clear that workers care deeply about the mission and values of their employers and will go to great lengths to seek alignment with a workplace that shares those values. This poses an unprecedented opportunity for organizations —especially fully-remote companies that can hire anywhere — to attract high-quality talent by being clear and outspoken about the causes they stand for."