Ulta Beauty Announces 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commitments
February 03 2022 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Retailer Works to Drive Meaningful Impact,
Leadership
Ulta Beauty, the nation’s largest beauty retailer, today
announced its latest diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments
with a focus on brand amplification, assortment growth and
equitable guest and associate experiences. After successfully
establishing and delivering on its 2021 commitments, the
omnichannel retailer revealed new initiatives to bolster efforts
and continue its purposeful work within the beauty and retail
industries. This year’s efforts span four categories totaling a
planned investment of $50 million, doubling 2021’s commitments.
“As a values-driven company, we believe we have a responsibility
to drive diversity, equity and inclusion in our company, industry
and world,” said Dave Kimbell, chief executive officer, Ulta
Beauty. “Looking back at 2021, I’m proud of the work we did to
meaningfully grow our assortment, elevate and celebrate
underrepresented voices, invest in our associates and create
equitable experiences. Our forward-looking 2022 DE&I
commitments ensure that we remain energized, creative and extremely
dedicated to leading in this critical space.”
Ulta Beauty has long prioritized DE&I within its business
strategy, mission and values. The 2022 commitments build upon the
holistic, tangible efforts established in 2021 to ensure guests,
associates, partners and communities feel connected to and
reflected at Ulta Beauty.
“After formally working together for a year, I’m hopeful that
Ulta Beauty’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion has
been a catalyst for other organizations to examine how they plan
for and create foundational change,” said Tracee Ellis Ross, Ulta
Beauty’s DE&I advisor. “Ensuring employees can thrive and that
customers are seen, heard and celebrated remains a clear business
objective. The Ulta Beauty team brings passion and accountability
to this necessary work and I am proudly committed to supporting
this team.”
Commitment to Amplifying Underrepresented Voices
Ulta Beauty recognizes the importance of elevating, celebrating,
and consistently supporting the influence underrepresented voices
bring to the beauty industry. To continue celebrating these
changemakers, this year the company will:
- Dedicate approximately $25 million in media investments with
multicultural platforms to nurture personal connections with
Latine, Black and other multicultural beauty enthusiasts. Notably,
10% of this investment will be directly spent with Black and Latine
owned media outlets, outpacing media industry benchmarks.
- Build upon its newly established and widely proclaimed MUSE
platform with programming to magnify, uplift, support and empower
Black voices in beauty.
- Invest $8.5 million to brand marketing support for Black-owned,
Black-founded and Black-led brands within the company’s assortment,
more than doubling last year’s investment to reflect the retailers’
expanded Black-owned assortment.
Commitment to Curating & Nurturing a Diverse
Assortment
In 2021, Ulta Beauty proudly joined the Fifteen Percent Pledge
and more than doubled the number of Black-owned brands in its
unparalleled assortment. This year, the company will continue
building upon its work to help diverse leaders, founders and
entrepreneurs thrive in the beauty industry.
- Launch a Brand Partner Accelerator Program focused on
early-stage BIPOC beauty brands. Ulta Beauty will provide time,
resources and mentorship to educate, inspire and support
accelerator participants with brand development for retail
readiness.
- To offer founders of color greater access, capital and
expertise, the company will invest $5 million in New Voices, a
venture capital firm that partners with and invests in
entrepreneurs of color to drive scalable, sustainable businesses
and create generational wealth. As the VC’s beauty retail partner,
Ulta Beauty will provide priority access to shelf space,
merchandising and marketing support.
- Allocate $3.5 million to in-store merchandising support so
guests can more readily find the Black-owned, Black-founded and
Black-led brands within the Ulta Beauty assortment
Commitment to Guest Experiences
Guest-centricity is core to Ulta Beauty’s success. Beyond
creating exciting, welcoming experiences for guests across physical
and digital touchpoints, the company continues to invest in the
communities it serves and in its training to ensure inclusivity is
prioritized with every guest engagement.
- New this year, the Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation will
donate $2 million to BIPOC and LGBTQ+-focused non-profits with
volunteering and education opportunities for associates.
- Inclusion in Action, the quarterly, in-store training launched
in 2021 to reinforce inclusivity and address unconscious bias, will
now be mandatory for distribution center and corporate associates
in addition to a second year of curriculum for salon and store
associates. This accounts for a $2.5 million investment, in
addition to the existing company trainings, and will result in a
minimum 3.5 hours of required DE&I training for all
associates.
- Textured hair and shade matching education trainings will be
further enriched across every Ulta Beauty salon.
Commitment to Associate Experiences
Ulta Beauty understands the importance of fostering an
inclusive, bias-free and equitable workplace for its 40,000
associates. To ensure all associates can reach their full
potential, the company is committed to retaining, developing and
attracting diverse talent as a diversity-forward employer.
- The reimagined Diverse Leaders Development Program has doubled
the number of associates and now includes expanded external partner
expertise, dedicated trainings as well as CEO and executive
mentorship for high-potential, future company leaders.
- Ulta Beauty will continue to significantly invest in
incremental efforts to support its diverse slate recruitment
efforts
- Teams across the company will continue to acknowledge and
celebrate lived experiences with always on DEI internal programming
with dedicated workshops, panels, keynote speakers and educational
programming for key moments such as Diversity Week, Pride Month,
Black History Month and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month,
among others.
“Since announcing our 2021 commitments, we have made significant
strides to amplify our DE&I efforts, internally and externally
– and we know the work is far from complete,” said Kimbell. “The
beauty category is emotional, personal and deeply connected. Our
dedication to this work ensures those attributes remain at the
heart of the beauty community, giving way to welcoming, equal
experiences for every Ulta Beauty associate, guest and
partner.”
With a formalized internal governance in place across the
enterprise, Ulta Beauty is committed to progress and will share
updates as it continues to build upon its diversity, equity and
inclusion efforts.
About Ulta Beauty
At Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA), the possibilities are beautiful.
Ulta Beauty is the largest U.S. beauty retailer and the premier
beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products,
hair care products and salon services. In 1990, the Company
reinvented the beauty retail experience by offering a new way to
shop for beauty – bringing together all things beauty, all in one
place. Today, Ulta Beauty operates more than 1,300 retail stores
across 50 states and also distributes its products through its
website, which includes a collection of tips, tutorials, and social
content. For more information, visit www.ulta.com.
Ulta Beauty was recently added to the Bloomberg Gender Equality
Index, which tracks the financial performance of public companies
committed to supporting gender equality through policy development,
representation, and transparency. More information about Ulta
Beauty’s corporate responsibility efforts can be found at
https://ulta.com/investor/esg.
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Ulta Beauty Media Contact: Eileen Ziesemer, Vice
President, Public Relations eziesemer@ulta.com (708) 305-4479
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