nations to organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, or the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. But at a time of deep pain and outrage over racial injustice, some of these statements felt like lip service to James, and she decided to do something about it.  On May 29, 2020, James posted a series of screenshots on Instagram, calling on specific companies, including Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, Saks, Sephora, Net-A-Porter, Barnes & Noble and Home Depot, to offer more than just words and address racial inequality in their own businesses.  “I am asking you to commit to buying 15 percent of your products from Black-owned businesses,” she wrote. “So many of your businesses are built on Black spending power. So many of your stores are set up in Black communities. So many of your sponsored posts are seen on Black feeds. This is the least you can do for us. We represent 15 percent of the population and we need to represent 15 percent of your shelf space.  “So for all of the ‘what can we do to help?’ questions out there, this is my personal answer. #15PercentPledge. “I will get texts that this is crazy. I will get phone calls that this is too direct, too big of an ask, too this, too that. But I don’t think it’s too anything – in fact, I think it’s just a start. You want to be an ally? This is what I’m asking for.” The post immediately went viral, with celebrities and news outlets amplifying James’ message. In November 2020, James added the title of founder of the Fifteen Percent Pledge to her already impressive resume. How it works The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a non-profit organization petitioning major retailers and corporations to “take the pledge” to dedicate at least 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned brands and support equal opportunity for Black people in the workplace.  Why 15 percent you might ask? As the organization states on its website: “Over 13 percent of people living in the United States identify as Black and another estimated 2 percent identify as mixed race, totaling 15 percent. At The Fifteen Percent Pledge, we feel that 15 percent is the least that these major retailers can do to help close the financial gap in this country.” The organization works closely with each company that takes the Pledge, to audit, advise, build out a contract, and hold them accountable on their path to reaching 15 percent. Contracts are for no less than four years, but they can be longer – Nordstrom, for instance, has a 10-year agreement.  If the company is not able to fulfill the goals of the Pledge in the timeline originally planned, the organization will re-evaluate what steps need to be taken and, if needed, what aid has to be provided.  James told Inside Retail that, “Everyone that takes the pledge has to have their own unique approach on how they’re going to execute it, what they’re going to contribute to the landscape, and how they’re going to make it their own.”  Creating this sense of personal buy-in is important since the Pledge requires a lot of hard work and organizational change behind the scenes. Companies may find that they need to hire additional staff or change their processes to reach their goals. It’s not as simple as featuring diverse models in a marketing campaign.  “I’ve been on the phone with pretty much every retailer in this country, they’re all going to tell you some of the same things. One, they’re going to tell you that they are very excited to share that more than 15 percent of their retail staff are Black, and that more than 15 percent of the people that they feature in their ads are also Black,” James explained.  “I think for a long time representation meant hiring Black models and to me, that’s not representation per se, that’s optical allyship. If you can have 40 percent of your talent in your ad campaigns be Black, but zero Black people in your boardroom, then the math isn’t mathing for me.  “I’m interested in people who genuinely are trying to make more diverse companies, and who really want to lean into making that diversity as profitable as possible.” What’s been achieved so far Since launching in 2020, 29 companies have taken the Pledge, and the organization has helped over 625 Black-owned businesses develop ongoing relationships with them, procuring over $14 billion in profits thus far. By 2030, the Pledge aims to drive $1.4 trillion of wealth generation for Black entrepreneurs and increase Black business representation in the US by 14.6 per cent.  “It is a marathon, not a sprint. It is not going to happen overnight,” LaToya Williams-Belfort, executive director of the Fifteen Percent Pledge, told Inside Retail.  “If we want to see a real sustainable systems change as it relates to a more inclusive economy, we have to do the work in the right ways. It cannot just be trying to get a ‘good report card’, trying to onboard a lot of brands really fast. You [the retailer] have to do the work strategically for the long haul.” The organization has a number of Pledge-takers in the pipeline, and expects to be able to announce new partnerships in the first half of next year, Williams-Belfort said.  Additionally, the organization has created the Business Equity Community, a directory of Black-owned businesses in the US and Canada across several retail categories, including fashion, beauty, food, wellness, art, publishing and more. The directory has 5,000 businesses and counting. Williams-Belfort firmly believes that having more Black businesses in retail stores is not only good for those businesses but for the wider industry and economy as a whole.  “Hopefully, people will do this because it is the right thing to do. But it’s really about just creating pathways for equal and equitable opportunity. And in doing that, we’re able to drive revenue and create good business,” she said. “And people who are still on the journey will see that, ultimately, inclusive economics is good business.” Lessons learned As the first retailer to take the Pledge in June 2020, Sephora has been working with James to diversify its brand offering for over three years.  “In order to accomplish real, lasting, widespread change, you need partners who are as passionate as you are to actualize a goal,” Priya Venkatesh, global chief merchandising officer at Sephora, told Inside Retail.  “We found tremendous partners in Aurora and the Pledge team and are stronger together to make more equitable and diverse retail experiences.”  For Sephora, taking the Pledge has come with tangible benefits. At a time when many retailers are thinking of ways to improve their customer experience, the beauty retailer is making sure that people of all backgrounds feel seen and welcome in its stores and on its website, and can find products that meet their needs.  “Committing 15 percent of our assortment to prestige Black-owned brands is not only the right thing to do for our business but also our beauty and retail communities,” Venkatesh said.   “While we know there is still much work to be done, we are excited to share that we’ve hit the 15 percent mark in the haircare category, have incubated 65 brands since 2021 with 11 now available at Sephora, and more than doubled our Black-owned brand offering.” Her one piece of advice for other retailers that have taken the Pledge, or are contemplating doing so, is not to rush the brand launch process just to meet a benchmark: “With any brand we bring on, we want to ensure they are set up for long-term success.”  More than a report card At the end of the day, the goal of the Fifteen Percent Pledge isn’t about grading retailers on their diversity efforts – you get an ‘A’, you get an ‘F’. It’s about driving long-term growth for current and future generations of Black business owners.  As Williams-Belfort said, “Both of my sons want to be entrepreneurs. I’m so hopeful that what I’m doing with my amazing team and board creates a space for them to show up authentically and be judged on their capacity and not on the color of their skin. I will feel like [that’s] a job well done.” This story first appeared in the December 2023 issue of Inside Retail US magazine.