A formidable promise.

On Monday, Comcast introduced their plan to reallocate $100 million so as to advance social justice and equality. In a company-wide memo, Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts declared that the brand new initiative will “battle injustice and inequality towards any race, ethnicity, gender id, sexual orientation or capacity.”

Particularly, Comcast’s pledge consists of “$75 million in money and $25 million in media that will likely be distributed over the subsequent three years,” in accordance to the assertion. This will likely be as well as to the company’s present commitments to “hundreds of organizations supporting underrepresented communities” through Comcast NBCUniversal Basis and social impression packages.

The brand new initiative will likely be helmed by Craig Robinson, EVP and Chief Variety Officer for NBCUniversal.

Roberts went on to spotlight 5 key focus areas, together with social justice, workers, consciousness and schooling, digital fairness and small enterprise alternative. The objective? “To construct packages, allocate assets and companion with nationwide and native organizations to drive significant change,” Roberts mentioned.

Monday’s announcement comes amid the continued protests towards police brutality, that are in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.

For Roberts’ full memo, please learn the under textual content:

“Final Sunday, I wrote to you to specific my outrage over the far too acquainted and frequent acts of violence towards the Black group, and to acknowledge the structural racism that fuels these injustices. I’ve spoken with many workers—as have our leaders throughout Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal and Sky—and now we have begun to mobilize as an organization. Whereas we acknowledge we do not have all of the solutions, we agree it is time that we begin placing our phrases into actual, sustainable motion.

We all know that Comcast alone cannot treatment this complicated difficulty. However you may have my dedication that our firm will attempt to play an integral position in driving lasting reform. Collectively, we hope to assist create a extra equitable, simply and inclusive society. To that finish, we’re creating a complete, multiyear plan to allocate $100 million to battle injustice and inequality towards any race, ethnicity, gender id, sexual orientation or capacity. There will likely be $75 million in money and $25 million in media that will likely be distributed over the subsequent three years, as well as to the prevailing commitments our firm at present makes to hundreds of organizations supporting underrepresented communities by means of our Comcast NBCUniversal Basis and social impression packages.

Craig Robinson, EVP and Chief Variety Officer for NBCUniversal, will likely be spearheading these efforts with me on the company degree and can coordinate with enterprise leaders throughout Comcast, NBCUniversal and Sky to construct packages, allocate assets and companion with nationwide and native organizations to drive significant change. Every of our corporations will create sustainable packages inside their companies and will likely be proactively soliciting concepts from workers in order that we will construct this effort collectively. We are going to share extra about these initiatives and our plans within the weeks forward, however immediately we wish to define our key focus areas:

Social Justice: We are going to companion with, and supply important grants to, organizations working to eradicate injustice and inequity. Organizations will embody however not be restricted to: the Nationwide City League, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Nationwide Affiliation for the Development of Coloured Individuals, the Nationwide Motion Community and the Group Justice Motion Fund.

Staff: We are going to speed up our efforts in all areas of Variety & Inclusion, together with development, hiring and coaching. We are going to educate everybody throughout the corporate to higher perceive race-related points and have the vital conversations—nevertheless uncomfortable—by means of City Halls, speaker sequence and obligatory anti-racism and anti-bias coaching. We are going to present extra monetary help to our Worker Useful resource Teams and put money into our numerous expertise, offering them with visibility, alternative and sponsorship, whereas persevering with to strengthen our variety recruiting technique. Collectively, we goal to encourage racial sensitivity and eradicate specific and implicit bias within the office in any respect ranges throughout Comcast, NBCUniversal and Sky.

Consciousness & Schooling: We are going to put the total weight of our firm’s media assets behind highlighting Black voices and Black tales and educating our viewers on numerous and inclusive cultures, views and experiences, by making anti-racism schooling and inequality consciousness a Symphony precedence. We are going to use our platforms throughout the group to proceed to make clear societal points associated to race. NBC Information will host a sequence of City Halls, related to their ‘Can You Hear Us Now’ particular that aired this previous Tuesday, and we are going to use the X1, Flex, Peacock and Sky platforms to promote and amplify multicultural content material. 

Digital Fairness: We are going to deepen our firm’s long-standing dedication to addressing digital inequities, which disproportionately impression communities of coloration. During the last 10 years, Comcast’s Web Necessities has linked greater than eight million low-income individuals to the web at residence. Past connectivity, we’re scaling up our pledge to present digital expertise coaching to younger individuals and to upskilling adults with the goal of enhancing financial mobility. Supporting organizations similar to Black Ladies Code, which empowers ladies of coloration to turn into innovators in STEM fields, and BUILD, which ignites the potential of younger individuals from under-resourced communities, are two examples.

Small Enterprise Alternative: We are going to commit funds to assist small companies which have been affected by prolonged closures within the wake of COVID-19, allocating a considerable portion of these funds to companies owned by individuals of coloration. Comcast Enterprise and Effectv will help companies impacted by the occasions of the previous few months and supply airtime and industrial manufacturing when they’re prepared to open. Moreover, we are going to create new LIFT Labs packages for Black founders, put money into numerous entrepreneurs by means of Comcast Ventures and our accelerators and increase the Catalyst program, which focuses on investing in Black, Latinx and feminine entrepreneurs.

I would like to sincerely thank these of you who’ve reached out and courageously shared your experiences and fears. We glance ahead to listening to extra of your insightful concepts for our path forward to a greater future. Collectively we face a painful but highly effective second—one which presents us with a renewed alternative to do higher, and to create substantive and sustainable change.”

(E! is a part of the NBCUniversal household, a Comcast firm.)