This week, Civic Alliance — a coalition of more than 1,250 businesses that use their voices, brands and reach to strengthen our democracy — released a Corporate Civic Playbook to offer concrete tips to companies looking to get employees and customers engaged in our democracy.
The playbook includes case studies from Levi Strauss & Co., Under Armour, Old Navy, MTV and Salesforce, providing in-depth analysis on what leading companies are doing to support democracy, why nonpartisan civic engagement is good for business, and how to engage in straightforward ways that resonate with employees, customers and other key stakeholders.
“We must use our voice and resources to support our people and communities, providing the support they need and taking stands on issues from gun violence to voter participation to racial justice to gender equity,” LS&Co. President and CEO Chip Bergh stated.
Since 2018, Levi Strauss & Co. has worked to reduce obstacles to civic participation and advance voting rights through grantmaking, employee engagement, our corporate advocacy, our voice and the Levi’s® brand. We also founded Time to Vote alongside PayPal and Patagonia to encourage businesses to give their employees the time they need to participate in elections. We are proud that encouraging time off to vote is central to Civic Alliance’s approach, with 94% of Civic Alliance companies providing time off to vote in 2020. The playbook offers concrete examples of how companies can give employees the time they need to vote on Election Day. By contributing our learnings to the playbook, we hope that more companies will make civic engagement a centerpiece of their work to empower employees and customers to be active citizens in their democracy.
“At the Civic Alliance, the notion that an engaged democracy is good for business, and an engaged business community is good for democracy is fundamental to our work. The Corporate Civic Playbook proves that not only is this true, but that Civic Alliance members are leading the way,” said Natalie Tran, Executive Director of the CAA Foundation and Co-Founder of the Civic Alliance.
Companies can join Civic Alliance for free and create their own action plan using the Civic Playbook at civicalliance.com.
