LGBTQ+ Inclusion Linked to Long-Term Business Growth

Important reserach revealed by Human Rights Campaign: Jared Todd reports on the data analysis by HRC Foundation and Whistle Stop Capital - Companies dedicated to LGBTQ+ workplace policies through participation in HRCF’s benchmark Corporate Equality Index (CEI) saw higher revenue, stronger profits, and steadier market performance over time. Article 

This new data confirms what we have long known: fairness and inclusion power innovation and growth.

The data, which analyzes a company's scores in HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI),and financial success indicators, such as market value and revenue growth over time, indicated that workplace inclusion isn't just a set of values – it’s an additive long-term business strategy. The news comes on the heels of a proxy season in which shareholders from dozens of the nation’s largest companies overwhelmingly voted down anti-DEI proposals, including some that explicitly named the CEI.  

• Companies with higher CEI scores saw stronger revenue growth. Companies with high CEI scores saw greater cumulative revenue growth than that of low-scoring companies over a 15-year period.
• Over a 10-year period, top-scoring companies reported average net income more than eight times higher than their lowest-scoring peers.
• Higher CEI scores were also linked to greater gross profit and more stable share price performance, suggesting more consistent, long-term investor confidence.
• Transparency is paramount: being clear and public in communicating about inclusive policies and CEI participation helps companies signal accountability to key stakeholders, and the data shows that kind of transparency is associated with better business performance.
• Given confusing headlines around rollbacks on diversity and inclusion, only 50% of workers say their company’s policies regarding protections for gender identity or expression, and sexual orientation have remained the same since the beginning of the current administration (Monster, May 2025). 
• 93.5% of LGBTQ+ adults state that a company scoring 100% on the HRC Foundation’s CEI indicates some level of support for the LGBTQ+ community (HRC Foundation, 2024). 

This new data confirms what we have long known: fairness and inclusion power innovation and growth. That’s why the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index was born more than 20 years ago. When businesses embrace LGBTQ+ equality in their policies and practices, they’re not just doing the right thing for their employees and consumers – they’re positioning themselves to outperform, out-innovate, and outlast their competitors. The reverse is also true: when companies sideline inclusion in moments of political pressure, they damage their brand, alienate consumers, and lose the trust of employees and shareholders. Workplace fairness is not a short-term PR play. It’s a proven long-term business strategy.

From Meredith Benton, Founder of research & analytics firm Whistle Stop Capital: 

We view a company's CEI score as an indicator of management quality. The data supports a thesis that we consider intuitive: companies don’t grow by excluding talent or consumers. Those companies with long-term high CEI scores are seeing the benefits of a virtuous cycle: Companies with strong relationships to the Pride community have built valuable workplace cultures, reputations, and brands over time.