How Your Company Can Use Its Strengths for the Greater Good

Corrie Conrad believes doing good is good for business. As Sephora vice president of social impact, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, she’s particularly proud of the company’s recent We Belong to Something Beautiful campaign, “which is a public statement manifesto of our commitment to inclusion beyond just wanting to do better,” she says. “It’s a commitment to do more around our inclusion activities.”

Sephora launched a program called Bold Beauty for the transgender and gender-nonconforming community through its Classes For Confidence program. It also provided gender pronoun buttons to all of its teams in every store because they believe representation matters.

Conrad says companies have a really unique opportunity to use their strengths for the greater good of the community when it comes to diversity and inclusion. “A lot of times, we traditionally go to the charitable giving aspect and we think, oh, we’ll give money away, and that’s good and that’s important.” But Conrad adds each company is uniquely positioned to do something to meet the needs of those around them.

For companies struggling with gender pronouns, inclusivity or recognizing people for who they are, Conrad suggests starting with humility. “We’ve worked with community partners in the LGBTQ community now for several years since we were starting to plan for Bold Beauty several years ago. They’ve advised us, they’ve coached us, they’ve given us feedback.”

Conrad sat down with Jessica Abo at the Social Innovation Summit in Los Angeles to share Sephora’s journey and her tips to help your company make a positive social impact.