MLT Black Equity at Work
Roadmap to Black equity in the workplace

MLT Black Equity at Work is the first certification program of its kind for racial equity in the workplace. The rubric focuses on people, purchasing, and philanthropy, offering companies benchmarks, best practices, and insights for how to achieve workplace racial equity across five pillars:
- Black representation at every level
- Compensation equity
- Inclusive, anti-racist work environment
- Racially just business practices
- Racial justice contributions and investments
Employers who participate in the program commit to crafting a comprehensive and rigorous plan for accelerating progress against the goals they set in each of the five pillars of the certification scorecard. For any employer, this provides an opportunity to take substantive, needle-moving steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) that reaffirm—for internal and external stakeholders—its stance against systemic racism.
The Opportunity
MLT Black Equity at Work was conceived as an online racial equity certification program for North American businesses. The certification would foster equal opportunities for Blacks in the workplace and hold companies accountable by focusing on three areas—people, purchasing, and philanthropy—and offering national benchmarking and a structured certification process. More than $70B has been committed to racial equity by organizations over the next 10 years.
Industries
Social Impact
Regions
North America
Technologies
Platform/APIs
Expertise
Sustainability, Ethical Capitalism
Our Approach
Answering the Call
Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), BCG, and BCG Digital Ventures responded to the fact that CEOs and organizations are unsure as to how to engage in Black racial equity long-term. They sought to create a roadmap for enabling and encouraging employers across America to pursue Black equity with the same rigor and results orientation as their pursuit of earnings and other priorities.
Defining the Mission
Months of work and years of experience in DEI resulted in a rubric by which companies can be evaluated. MLT Black Equity at Work, the first certification program focusing on racial equity and unapologetic action, was operationalized by tactical manuals and iterative tests. A certification framework was devised to help corporations drive lasting systemic change.
Designing the Initiative
Design played an active leadership role by shaping the product vision and its value propositions, while keeping stakeholders like Product Management and Business Operations aligned with user journeys and service design blueprints.
Deploying the Tech
Digital Ventures developed a cloud-based platform that provides relevant content, customized plan creation, data-driven digital scoring and benchmarking, and community engagement.
The impact realized
>$1.5M
In recurring revenue captured since its October 2020 launch
>$50M
Of donations to social justice organizations tracked
>40 employers
>40 participating employers and 1.5 million employees within partner companies impacted
More venture stories
We've helped the world's leading companies invent, launch, and scale innovative businesses that leverage and reinforce their core capabilities. Explore our portfolio of pioneering businesses that are creating value for our clients.
More venture stories
We've helped the world's leading companies invent, launch, and scale innovative businesses that leverage and reinforce their core capabilities. Explore our portfolio of pioneering businesses that are creating value for our clients.