PBN 2022 Diversity Equity & Inclusion Awards
Entertainment: Hasbro Inc.
WITH ITS STORIED, almost centurylong history, Pawtucket-based Hasbro Inc. is known as the corporate parent of Monopoly, perhaps the most popular board game in the world.
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But the multinational toy company of roughly 6,400 employees, with 1,400 here in Rhode Island, is also a globally branded conglomerate of gaming, entertainment and consumer products. Its iconic brands range from Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons to My Little Pony.
Hasbro doesn’t pay lip service to the concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion, officials say. It has an integrated business approach that puts those values first.
Case in point: the high marks earned from the Human Rights Campaign for LGBTQ+ workplace equality. The HRC recognized Hasbro’s variety of voluntary employee groups that meet to share their experiences. The Hasbro PRIDE network also advocated with the company to adopt a policy of gender-neutral bathrooms.
“We have received continuous recognition for our sexual orientation and gender identity workforce protections, our inclusive benefits and culture,” Bryony Bouyer, Hasbro’s senior vice president of diversity and inclusion and multicultural strategy, said in an email.
Officials point to a flexible workplace that supports employees juggling work and home commitments. New parents, including fathers, same-sex partners and adoptive parents, can take up to 10 weeks of paid time off to care for their newborn or adopted child. Birth mothers receive six to eight weeks of short-term disability, totaling up to 18 weeks of paid time off.
Hasbro is pushing toward goals of increased female representation and workforce racial and ethnic diversity, using concrete steps, Bouyer says. The company uses a 21st-century recruiting tool to do it, she adds.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence assist with writing unbiased job descriptions to help appeal to a wider range of potential new hires. Additionally, diverse recruiters cast a bigger, more inclusive and expansive net when looking for candidates. By implementing these and other strategies, Bouyer says the hiring of racially and ethnically diverse employees has climbed from 25% in 2017 to 34% in 2021.
Hasbro should reach 50% women in leadership roles globally by 2025, she adds. During that time, the company also expects to have a 25% racially and ethnically diverse workforce. She nods to how Hasbro’s board of directors is 54% gender diverse, compared with the national average of 27%, and the executive leadership team is 44% gender diverse.
In 2021, the Magic: The Gathering brand benefited Black Girls Code, with the debut of its Black Is Magic Secret Lair. Developed by Black artists, the product celebrates Black history and culture.
The nearly $1 million donation from Wizards of the Coast, raised by the campaign, helped train 3,200 students in more than 100 Black Girls Code programs. These included game design and digital arts workshops. Through the Hasbro Foundation, the Black Girls Code partnership will expand to fund code clubs in Seattle and Rhode Island.
Launched in September, the Brian Goldner Center for Transforming Futures, named in honor of the late company chairman and CEO, will provide social impact investments with a mission of uplifting lives. Funded by a $2.5 million contribution from the Hasbro Foundation, the center has invested in Year Up, which provides job training and corporate internships to young adults.
And the Brian Goldner Storytelling Fellowship at the Ghetto Film School will support underserved young artists, especially young women, as they pursue an entertainment career.
“Brian was always looking to help those who might need to be lifted up in life,” Goldner’s widow, Barbara, said in a company statement.
Internationally, Hasbro has partnered with Business for Social Responsibility in managing its overseas supply chain for several years. BSR oversees programs in China that provide financial literacy skills to women, helping more than 2,300 female workers and 65 managers. Although the initiative was paused early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Bouyer says, it was reinstated late in 2021.
“We have a diverse consumer base and our goal is to ensure consumers and fans see themselves in our products and experiences one game, one toy, one story at a time,” Bouyer said.
(CORRECTION: Hasbro Inc. has approximately 6,400 employees worldwide, with around 1,400 here in Rhode Island. Also corrects spelling of name of the the Brian Goldner Center for Transforming Futures.)
