Diversity & Inclusion Pledge The Balance is committed to answering all of your money questions, including the complex financial challenges facing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Each year, we set goals for improving how The Balance operates to ensure we’re effectively working toward equitable financial education for all. As a financial publisher, we are in a strong position to ensure all ethnicities, genders, generations, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds achieve financial literacy. We also understand that an important part of that mission includes showing how we got to where we are today and how bias and racism have played a part in our financial systems. In order to do that, we have committed ourselves to the following pledge. Content: In 2022, our Anti-Bias Review Board (ABRB) will review all mortgage, economics, and investing content published within the year. The ABRB comprises financial experts and professionals with a background in supporting diversity, inclusion, and racial justice initiatives.People: In order to truly have inclusive content, we need diversity among the people creating, editing, and reviewing that content. We will continue to examine and improve our recruiting efforts so we are providing equal opportunities and sourcing diverse talent. Our goal is to increase BIPOC representation of our editorial team from 27% to 40%. Community: We have not done enough work to leverage our influence and expertise in communities that need it most. We will align with organizations that work toward diversity, equity, and inclusion in the financial industry. In 2022, we pledge to partner with at least three organizations dedicated to improving financial literacy in BIPOC communities and amplifying diverse perspectives. We know there is no progress without accountability. We always promise to be transparent about our process. We will publicly provide a quarterly update on all these points and those we add to this page. Updates on Past Initiatives Content In 2020, we pledged to have the ABRB review content representing 75% of our traffic. We achieved this goal. We also set a goal of collaborating with the board for quarterly training sessions to help the editorial team better address and reduce bias in our content. We continue to hold these sessions and incorporate the learnings into our day-to-day work with editorial content.In 2021, we committed to reviewing all economics content on the site and sending all new economics articles to the ABRB before publishing. We know this content is at the highest risk of misrepresenting the relationship between systemic racism and the economy, and it represents one of the largest content areas we have on The Balance. We achieved the goal of reviewing and editing the existing content. We have re-committed to the goal of having the ABRB review our new content in 2022. People In 2020, we set out to amplify BIPOC perspectives and their place in the financial industry. We ran a 10-part series highlighting workers and small business owners affected by the pandemic, of which 30% came from BIPOC subjects. We built on that initiative in 2021, with a series of profiles of business founders of Asian American and Pacific Islander descent.In 2020, our editorial team was 5% BIPOC. In 2021, we had increased it to 20%. We have had a goal of 40% since 2020 and continue to pursue that goal. Community We need to make more progress here. We have not yet achieved our goals of partnering with multiple community organizations dedicated to improving financial literacy in BIPOC communities and amplifying diverse perspectives. Our editor-in-chief, Kristin Myers, led an initiative to create a partnership between Dotdash Meredith and Sisters in Media, an organization for minority women in media professions. We are in the process of launching a mentorship program, pairing women from Sisters in Media with employees of Dotdash Meredith. Change is incumbent on us, and we encourage our readers to share their thoughts and ideas for improvement by emailing us at contact@thebalance.com.