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Five hundred and seventeen major businesses — spanning nearly every industry and geography — earned a top score of 100 percent and the distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality.” This was the largest increase in top-rated businesses in the history of the survey and it was also the largest jump in businesses offering transgender-inclusive healthcare coverage.

“These businesses know that LGBTQ equality isn’t just the right thing to do, it makes them stronger in our global economy. Ensuring fairness in the workplace is a value and increasingly a policy norm, and not just in the U.S.” said Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. “Now, more than 90 percent of CEI-rated businesses have embraced both sexual orientation and gender identity employment protections for their U.S. and global operations.”

The Corporate Equality Index, the HRC Foundation’s national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, serves as a roadmap for employers to transform their practices and procedures to ensure inclusiveness in regards to workplace protections, benefits, employee resource groups, diversity trainings, and external engagement. It noted 61% of Fortune 500 companies have reinforced that domestic partner benefits are good for business, 82% of Fortune 500 companies include gender identity in U.S. non-discrimination policies, and 50% offer transgender-inclusive benefits.

Fortunately, the 2017 CEI and its participants reinforce that the momentum towards full equality for the LGBTQ communities is not slowing down but in fact making significant progress.

“Year after year the CEI acts as a catalyst of change by appealing to the competitive nature of the private sector, which in turn propels more businesses towards workplace equality, and participation continues to increase exponentially. The number of companies rated in the CEI has grown from 319 in 2002 to 887 in 2017. This year’s edition of the CEI also saw a record breaking 517 companies achieve a perfect score of 100%,” said Lana Williams, the Workplace Equality Program Manager at the HRC Foundation.

When the CEI began in 2002, LGBTQ people in the United States faced incredible barriers to legal protections including workplace discrimination, lack of recognition of relationships and families, and no federal hate crimes protection. Over the last 15 years, the CEI has shown that LGBTQ equality is not just the right thing for a business to do, but it makes them stronger in the global market. Participation in the CEI allows businesses to remain competitive and enables them to stand out to consumers and employees as a champion of fairness and equality.

“In this new political environment, we are seeing time and time again that basic human rights are not a priority for the new White House Administration. However, in spite of the new political environment, businesses and leaders continue to stress commitment to all of their employees by offering reasonable solutions that maintain the dignity and respect the diversity of all their employees,” Williams said.

The 2017 CEI also notes that 88 percent of the business participants have an employee resource group (ERG) or a diversity council that includes LGBTQ and allied employees. These groups serve as a great way for a business to internally foster a sense of community and visibility, and provide leadership platforms for its LGBTQ employees to improve their own work environments. Externally, companies may leverage their group’s unique skills and networks to help them reach overarching business goals such as market innovation, recruitment and retention. The profile and impact of these groups is greatly enhanced by an active executive champion for the group. Ninety-seven percent of employee groups rated in the 2017 CEI are sponsored by an executive champion.

The nation’s largest employers have demonstrated through their actions that LGBTQ people are not just tolerated but welcomed in their workplaces and communities.

“Even with all of this progress, we know that policies and benefits make up the crucial foundation, but not the totality, of what’s needed to ensure that LGBTQ workers can thrive from the plant floor to the corner office,” Griffin noted. “While there is much to do and many key civil rights fights ahead, thanks to these private sector leaders, the march towards greater equality is not slowing down. The LGBTQ community and the 887 businesses in the CEI will keep moving forward every day.”

Congratulations to the following companies!

Advertising and Marketing

  • Daniel J. Edelman Inc.
  • DigitasLBi
  • Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.
  • Leo Burnett Company Inc.
  • Mediavest|Spark
  • MSLGROUP Americas
  • Ogilvy Group Inc., The
  • Omnicom Group
  • Optimedia International US Inc.
  • Publicis Healthcare Communications
  • Razorfish
  • Re:Sources USA Inc.
  • Saatchi & Saatchi North America Inc.
  • Starcom
  • Zenith Media Services Inc.

 Aerospace and Defense

  • BAE Systems Inc.
  • Boeing Co.
  • Harris Corp.
  • Lockheed Martin Corp.
  • Northrop Grumman Corp.
  • Raytheon Co.
  • Rockwell Collins Inc.

Airlines

  • Alaska Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Delta Air Lines Inc.
  • JetBlue Airways Corp.
  • Southwest Airlines Co.
  • United Airlines

Apparel/Fashion and Department Stores

  • Adidas North America Inc.
  • American Apparel LLC
  • Levi Strauss & Co.
  • Macy’s Inc.
  • Nike Inc.
  • VF Corp.

Automotive

  • FCA US LLC
  • Ford Motor Co.
  • General Motors Co.
  • Hyundai Motor America
  • Lear Corp.
  • Nissan North America Inc.
  • Subaru of America Inc.
  • Tesla Motors Inc.
  • Toyota North America Inc.
  • Volkswagen Group of America Inc.

Banking and Finance

  • AllianceBernstein LP
  • Ally Financial Inc.
  • American Express Co.
  • Ameriprise Financial Inc.
  • Bank of America Corp.
  • Bank of New York Mellon Corp., The
  • BarclaysBB&T Corp.
  • BlackRockBloomberg LP
  • BNP ParibasBroadridge Financial Solutions Inc.
  • Capital Markets Company NV, The
  • Capital One Financial Corp.
  • Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.
  • Citigroup Inc.
  • Comerica Inc.
  • Credit Suisse USA Inc.
  • Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., The
  • Deutsche Bank
  • Discover Financial Services
  • Eastern Bank Corp.
  • Edward Jones
  • Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac)
  • Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae)
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
  • Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis
  • Fifth Third Bancorp
  • Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.
  • First Data Corp.
  • Franklin Resources Inc.
  • Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The
  • HSBC USA
  • Huntington Bancshares Inc.
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co.
  • KeyCorp
  • KKR & Co. LP
  • LPL Financial Holdings Inc.
  • MasterCard Inc.
  • Moody’s Corp.
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Northern Trust Corp.
  • OppenheimerFunds Inc.
  • Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC
  • PNC Financial Services Group Inc., The
  • Prudential Financial Inc.
  • RBC Capital Markets LLC
  • RBC Wealth Management
  • Rockland Trust Co.
  • S&P Global Inc.
  • State Street Corp.
  • SunTrust Banks Inc.
  • Synchrony Financial
  • T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.
  • TD Ameritrade
  • TD Bank N.A.
  • TD Securities (USA) LLC
  • TIAA
  • U.S. Bancorp
  • UBS AG
  • Union Bank
  • United Services Automobile Association
  • Vanguard Group Inc.
  • Visa
  • Wells Fargo & Co.

Chemicals and Biotechnology

  • BASF Corp.
  • Dow Chemical Co., The
  • Ecolab Inc.
  • Genentech Inc.
  • Monsanto Co.
  • Praxair Inc.
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Computer and Data Services

  • Automatic Data Processing Inc.
  • Citrix Systems Inc.
  • Dell Inc.
  • Dropbox Inc.
  • EMC Corp.
  • FactSet Research Systems Inc.
  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.
  • HP Inc.
  • Tech Data Corp.

Computer Hardware and Office Equipment

  • Apple Inc.
  • LENOVO (UNITED STATES) INC.
  • Lexmark International Inc.
  • Xerox Corp.

Computer Software

  • Adobe Systems Inc.
  • Autodesk Inc.
  • CA Technologies Inc.
  • Electronic Arts Inc.
  • Intuit Inc.
  • Microsoft Corp.
  • NCR Corp.
  • Oracle Corp.
  • Salesforce
  • SAP America Inc.
  • Symantec Corp.
  • Uber Technologies
  • Ultimate Software Group Inc., The

Consulting and Business Services

  • A.T. Kearney Inc.
  • Accenture
  • Aon Corp.
  • Bain & Co. Inc./Bridgespan Group
  • Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
  • Boston Consulting Group
  • CEB Inc.
  • Convergys Corp.
  • Deloitte LLP
  • Dun & Bradstreet Corp., The
  • Ernst & Young LLP
  • Grant Thornton LLP
  • Huron Consulting Group Inc.
  • IBM Corp.
  • KPMG LLP
  • ManpowerGroup
  • Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.
  • McKinsey & Co. Inc.
  • Navigant Consulting Inc.
  • Nielsen
  • Pricewaterhouse
  • Coopers LLP
  • Robert Half
  • Sapient Corp.
  • Slalom
  • The Advisory Board Co.
  • Thomson Reuters
  • Willis Towers Watson

Education and Child Care

  • Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.
  • Pearson Inc.

Energy and Utilities

  • Ameren Corp.
  • American Electric Power Co. Inc.
  • Exelon Corp.
  • National Grid USA
  • PG&E Corp.
  • Portland General Electric Co.
  • PPL Corp.
  • Sempra Energy
  • Southern California Edison Co.
  • Southern Co.
  • Xcel Energy Inc.

Engineering and Construction

  • Turner Construction Co.

Entertainment and Electronic Media

  • AMC Entertainment Inc.
  • CBS Corp.
  • Comcast NBCUniversal
  • Netflix Inc.
  • Pandora Media Inc.
  • SIRIUS XM Radio Inc.
  • Sony Corporation of America
  • Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
  • TEGNA Inc.
  • Time Warner Inc.
  • Viacom Inc.
  • Walt Disney Co., The

Food, Beverages and Groceries

  • Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.
  • Aramark Corp.
  • Barilla America Inc.
  • Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc.
  • Brown-Forman Corp.
  • Campbell Soup Co.
  • Cargill Inc.
  • Coca-Cola Co., The
  • ConAgra Brands Inc.
  • Darden Restaurants Inc.
  • Delhaize America Inc.
  • Diageo North America
  • E&J Gallo Winery
  • General Mills Inc.
  • Hershey Co., The
  • Hormel Foods Corp.
  • Kellogg Company
  • Land O’ Lakes Inc.
  • McDonald’s Corp.
  • MillerCoors LLC
  • Mondelez International Inc.
  • PepsiCo Inc.
  • Pernod Ricard USA LLC
  • Sodexo Inc.
  • Tyson Food Inc.
  • Wawa Inc.
  • WhiteWave Foods Co., The

Healthcare

  • Aetna Inc.
  • Baxter International Inc.
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
  • Blue Shield of California
  • Boston Scientific Corp.
  • Cardinal Health Inc.
  • CIGNA Corp.
  • CVS Health Corp.
  • Express Scripts Holding Company
  • Group Health Cooperative
  • Henry Schein Inc.
  • Humana Inc.
  • Kaiser Permanente
  • McKesson Corp.
  • Quest Diagnostics Inc.

High-Tech/Photo/Science Equipment

  • Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
  • Eastman Kodak Co.
  • HERE North America LLC
  • Intel Corp.
  • Medtronic PLC
  • NVIDIA Corp.
  • Texas Instruments Inc.

Home Furnishing

  • IKEA Holding US Inc.
  • Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams

Hotels, Resorts and Casinos

  • Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa
  • Caesars Entertainment Corp.
  • Choice Hotels International Inc.
  • Hilton Worldwide Inc.
  • Hyatt Hotels Corp.
  • InterContinental Hotels Group Americas
  • Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC
  • Marriott International Inc.
  • MGM Resorts International
  • Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
  • The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
  • Wyndham Worldwide Corp.
  • Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Insurance

  • AIG
  • Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America
  • American Family Insurance Group
  • Anthem Inc.
  • AXA
  • Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Inc.
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
  • Cambia Health Solutions Inc.
  • CareFirst Inc.
  • CNA Insurance
  • CSAA Insurance Group
  • CUNA Mutual Group
  • Erie Insurance Group
  • Excellus Health Plan Inc.
  • Genworth Financial Inc.
  • Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, The
  • Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., The
  • Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc.
  • Health Care Service Corp.
  • Highmark Inc.
  • John Hancock Financial Services Inc.
  • Lincoln National Corp.
  • Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.
  • MetLife Inc.
  • Nationwide
  • New York Life Insurance Co.
  • Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
  • Principal Financial Group
  • Standard Insurance Company
  • State Farm Group
  • Sun Life Financial Inc. (US)
  • Travelers Companies Inc., The
  • Tufts Health Plan
  • Voya Financial
  • Wellmark Inc.

Internet Services and Retailing

  • Airbnb Inc.
  • Akamai Technologies Inc.
  • eBay Inc.
  • Expedia Inc.
  • Facebook Inc.
  • Google Inc.
  • Groupon Inc.
  • LinkedIn
  • Paypal Holdings Inc.
  • Twitter Inc.
  • WeddingWire Inc.
  • Yahoo! Inc.
  • Yelp Inc.

Law Firms

  • Akerman LLP
  • Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP
  • Alston & BirdArent Fox LLP
  • Armstrong Teasdale LLP
  • Arnold & Porter LLP
  • Baker & McKenzie LLP
  • Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
  • Blank Rome LLP
  • Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
  • Brown Rudnick LLP
  • Bryan Cave LLP
  • Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
  • BuckleySandler LLP
  • Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
  • Carlton Fields Jorden Burt
  • Chapman and Cutler LLP
  • Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP
  • Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
  • Clifford Chance US LLP
  • Cooley LLP
  • Covington & Burling LLP
  • Crowell & Moring LLP
  • Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
  • Day Pitney LLP
  • Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
  • Dechert LLP
  • Dentons US LLP
  • DLA PiperDorsey & Whitney LLP
  • Dykema Gossett PLLC
  • Faegre Baker Daniels Fenwick & West LLP
  • Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
  • Foley & Lardner LLP
  • Foley Hoag LLP
  • Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
  • Frost Brown Todd LLC
  • Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
  • Goodwin Procter LLP
  • Gordon & Rees LLP
  • Goulston & Storrs
  • Greenberg Traurig LLP
  • Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
  • Hogan Lovells US LLP
  • Holland & Knight LLP
  • Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
  • Husch Blackwell LLP
  • Jenner & Block LLP
  • K&L Gates LLP
  • Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
  • Kaye Scholer LLP
  • Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
  • King & Spalding LLP
  • Kirkland & Ellis LLP
  • Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
  • Kutak Rock LLP
  • Lane Powell PC
  • Latham & Watkins LLP
  • Lindquist & Vennum LLP
  • Littler Mendelson PC
  • Locke Lord LLP
  • Lowenstein Sandler LLP
  • Mayer Brown LLP
  • McDermott Will & Emery LLP
  • Michael Best & Friedrich LLP
  • Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP
  • Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo PC
  • Moore & Van Allen PLLC
  • Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
  • Morrison & Foerster LLP
  • Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
  • Nixon Peabody LLP
  • Norton Rose Fulbright
  • Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
  • O’Melveny & Myers LLP
  • Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
  • Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
  • Paul Hastings LLP
  • Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
  • Pepper Hamilton LLP
  • Perkins Coie LLP
  • Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
  • Quarles & Brady LLP
  • Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP
  • Reed Smith LLP
  • Robins Kaplan LLP
  • Ropes & Gray LLP
  • Schiff Hardin LLP
  • Sedgwick LLP
  • Seyfarth Shaw LLP
  • Shearman & Sterling LLP
  • Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
  • Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
  • Sidley Austin LLP
  • Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
  • Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
  • Snell & Wilmer Squire Patton Boggs
  • Stoel Rives LLP
  • Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP
  • Thompson Coburn LLP
  • Thompson Hine LLP
  • Troutman Sanders LLP
  • Vinson & Elkins LLP
  • Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
  • Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
  • Wiley Rein LLP
  • Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP
  • Winston & Strawn LLP
  • Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP

Mail and Freight Delivery

  • United Parcel Service Inc.

Manufacturing

  • 3M Co.
  • Arconic Inc.
  • Ball Corp.
  • Corning Inc.
  • Cummins Inc.
  • Danaher Corp.
  • Eaton Corp.
  • General Electric Co.
  • Herman Miller Inc.
  • Nestlé Purina PetCare Co.
  • Owens Corning
  • Rockwell Automation Inc.
  • Steelcase Inc.
  • Stryker Corp.
  • TE Connectivity Inc.
  • United Technologies Corp.

Mining and Metals

  • Alcoa Inc.
  • Newmont Mining Corporation

Miscellaneous

  • E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DuPont)
  • W.W. Grainger Inc.

Oil and Gas

  • Air Products & Chemicals Inc.
  • Chevron Corp.
  • Shell Oil Co.

Pharmaceuticals

  • AbbVie Inc.
  • Amgen Inc.
  • Astellas Pharma US Inc.
  • Biogen
  • Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp.
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
  • Eli Lilly & Co.
  • GlaxoSmithKline LLC
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • Mallinckrodt LLC
  • Merck & Co. Inc.
  • Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
  • Pfizer Inc.
  • Sanofi
  • Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.

Real Estate, Commercial

  • CBRE Inc.
  • JLL
  • Lend Lease Americas Inc.

Retail and Consumer Products

  • Abercombie & Fitch Co.
  • American Eagle Outfitters Inc.
  • Avon Products Inc.
  • BJ’s Wholesale Club
  • Barnes & Nobles Inc.
  • Best Buy Co. Inc.
  • Caleres
  • Clorox Co., The
  • Coach Inc.
  • Colgate-Palmolive Co.
  • Crate and Barrel/ CB2
  • Estée Lauder Companies Inc., The
  • GameStop Corp.
  • Gap Inc.
  • Hallmark Cards Inc.
  • Hasbro Inc.
  • Home Depot Inc., The
  • J.C. Penney Co. Inc.
  • Kimberly-Clark Corp.
  • Mattel Inc.
  • Nordstrom Inc.
  • Office Depot Inc.
  • Outerwall Inc.
  • PetSmart Inc.
  • Procter & Gamble Co.
  • Replacements Ltd.
  • S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.
  • Sears Holdings Corp.
  • Sony Electronics Inc.
  • Staples Inc.
  • Starbucks Corp.
  • Target Corp.
  • TJX Companies Inc., The
  • Toys ‘R’ Us Inc.
  • Unilever
  • Walgreens Co.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
  • Whirpool Corp.

Telecommunications

  • AT&T Inc.
  • Charter Communications
  • Cisco Systems Inc.
  • Level 3 Communications Inc.
  • QUALCOMM Inc.
  • Sprint Corp.
  • T-Mobile USA Inc.
  • Verizon Communications Inc.

Transportation and Travel

  • American Express Global Business Travel
  • Carnival Corp.
  • Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.