Structural racism in Brazil has been around for a long time and is known to everyone. Combating profound racial and social inequalities in the country requires intelligent and advanced solutions. It is for this purpose that the Racial Equity Promotion Pact was raised. An innovative initiative that has arrived to revolutionize the way in which anti-racism institutions will deal with the problem of racial equity in Brazil from now on.
The Pact is made up of the unity of different segments of civil society, including third sector organizations and Black Movement entities, integrated with numerous leaders from the corporate market and social organizations. iFood has been a signatory to the pact since September 2021.
By signing the Pact - an unprecedented initiative in the world and already supported by the UN to combat racism in Brazil -, iFood took a step further in favor of the representation of black professionals in its workforce. The commitment was signed alongside the companies of the Movile group, an investor in technology companies that has foodtech in its portfolio.
The Pact, which aims to bring the topic to the center of the Brazilian economic debate, is an initiative of the Association for the Promotion of Racial Equity. The entity brings together more than 140 representatives, including representatives of the black community, experts in finance and ESG, researchers, academics, lawyers, businesspeople, professionals and third sector leaders.
The project proposes that companies review their internal culture and reformulate the necessary points to actually include the black population in formal work positions and leadership positions. The main objective is to increase the percentage of black professionals on company staff.
Diversity is a priority theme for iFood, which publicly announced its inclusion commitments and goals. By 2023, the goal is to have 40% people of color in the overall employee count and 30% in leadership.
“The signing of the Racial Equity Promotion Pact further reinforces our commitment to increasing the representation of black people on iFood. In addition to having a diverse environment, it is important to make people feel part of the culture, being respected, heard, feeling psychologically safe and guaranteed equal opportunities for development and growth”, explains Gustavo Vitti, VP of People ( Human Resources) and iFood’s ESG.
The iFood VP also highlights that the plans go beyond new hires and encompass the development of black people who are already part of iFood. “For example, through the Mentoring programs for Black People and Black Powers, we want to generate a funnel to increase the representation of these professionals in higher positions”, says Vitti, referring to the iFood program of career acceleration and mentoring for women and black people.
“With these actions, together with the Racial Equity Promotion Pact, we will achieve our objective in a concrete and sustainable way, together with the other signatory companies”, he adds.
iFood advances in the inclusion of women
In 2020, iFood also became a signatory of the Principles of Women's Empowerment (WEPs in English), proposed by UN Women and the Global Compact, with the aim of guiding companies on the path to achieving gender equality and equity for women in the job market.
