Diversity

Disney views the development of a diverse workforce as a business imperative and a catalyst to achieve better performance. We embrace diversity, in other words, to better serve our consumers by better reflecting the communities we serve. We believe that a diversity of opinions, ideas and perspectives enhances our internal creativity and the company's vitality.

As such, we've been building a workforce representative of the global marketplace in which we operate, while fostering an inclusive environment for our employees and their families. Although we still have plenty of progress to make, we are proud that the Company now employs the most diverse workforce in its history.

For our efforts, Disney was named to Diversity Inc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity, which recognizes companies that demonstrate consistent strength in CEO commitment, human capital, corporate and organizational communications and supplier diversity. Additionally, the Company has scored 100 percent for three consecutive years on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index, which gauges workplace inclusivity and was recently named by Business Week in the top 50 companies for MBA students to begin their careers.

We think about diversity in the broadest terms and seek to build a workforce that blends people from all ages, experiences, backgrounds, ethnic groups, and lifestyles. At present, the Company has professionals in the U.S. dedicated to the recruitment, retention and professional development of minority employees and Cast Members. We have also put into place a variety of mentoring, affinity and professional development programs with the same goals in mind.


Diversity at our Parks and Resorts

As the largest segment of our employee base, the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts group supports the development of unique, high-quality, and innovative business solutions to meet the evolving needs of our workforce, guests, and communities. Our Cast, Crew and Imagineers view diversity and inclusion as key elements driving creativity, innovation and business growth.

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has a well-defined diversity and inclusion infrastructure in place and engagement exists at all levels.

  • All of our sites include a Diversity Leadership Advisory Board, comprised of executives from our various lines of businesses, that acts as a council to raise awareness and discuss issues, trends, and recommendations, to help enable diversity and inclusion strategies.
  • Disney Parks & Resorts also have Diversity Resource Groups, comprised of Cast Members and Imagineers across the business segment, who provide enrichment, awareness, and education to the organization, and who also provide valuable feedback and insight on products and services currently in development to our business leaders.
  • Through consulting, talent sourcing, and cultural knowledge, our Global Strategies for Diversity & Inclusion organization has established key partnerships with creative executives to help develop products, services, and experiences that resonate and have a relevant and emotional connection with our Guests globally.
  • The Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) ImagiNations Design Competition is a program to help identify talented students from our broad global audience. The competition encourages students to form teams to showcase their storytelling, creative, and technical abilities by submitting a project for review by Imagineering judges. The reward for this incredible effort is winning the opportunity to spend 10 action-packed days in Anaheim and Glendale, CA learning and working with Disney Imagineers.
  • We identify guest speakers, and customize and design unique immersive learning experiences that offer deeper awareness and knowledge about diversity and inclusion.

Diversity at Other Disney Units

Similar to Parks and Resorts, other Disney businesses have programs designed to build and strengthen diversity in the workplace. ABC and ESPN both have sizeable mentoring programs that are aimed at developing strong cross-functional connections within their organizations as well as strengthening the retention and promotion of promising employees.

Creative talent development is a major theme at ABC, ESPN and Walt Disney Studios. Several longstanding initiatives are in place to help advance the careers of both �on camera" and production employees from diverse backgrounds. The Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship, for instance, takes applications from over 1,200 writers annually and selects ten of them for writing positions on television shows and movies. Disney also works closely with the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Institute for American Indian Summer TV and Film Workshop to develop promising talent.

We approach diversity in the workplace through a multi-faceted strategy. A running theme throughout this report, you can learn more about our diversity efforts in the Diversity in Content, Supplier Diversity and Children's Content sections.