Diversity, equity & inclusion
Why Diversity Matters
“Nielsen’s unwavering commitment to DE&I puts us in a unique position to influence change in our industry, in our communities and around the world. Together, we can fight discrimination and break bias, ensuring that all people are treated with dignity and respect.”
-Sandra Sims-Williams, Chief Diversity Officer
How we’re doing it
At Nielsen, we focus on systematically integrating inclusion and accountability into the full employee experience through four focus areas: people, products and thought leadership, business diversity and community outreach.
People
We work closely with Nielsen’s People team to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion in our recruiting and retention. Our retention efforts include promoting key areas: an inclusive culture and policies, career opportunities and professional development for all employees, mentorship and sponsorship, and our global Business Resource Groups (BRGs). Our recruiting efforts include talent attraction, diverse candidate slates and manager anti-bias training.
Business diversity
Our team works closely with Nielsen’s Procurement team and Business Diversity program to increase our company’s use of services and products provided by certified diverse-owned businesses. We define a certified spend goal with diverse suppliers and mentor diverse suppliers. We also team up with our client business partners to discuss client goals for diverse spend.
Products and thought leadership
Nielsen panels are the core of our business, so ensuring a diverse representative panel ensures that our media measurement accurately represents the population. We work with Panel Relations to maintain and recruit diverse Nielsen panelists. We also share our expertise about diverse communities through our Diverse Intelligence Series and invest in inclusive measurement and products. Our product, Gracenote Inclusion Analytics, provides the media ecosystem new visibility into representation of on-screen talent across gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation compared with audience diversity.
Community outreach
Our team advocates for under-represented groups and promotes diversity, equity and inclusion in our local communities. We work with organizations including the Advertising Research Foundation and GLAAD. We also provide pro bono data and consulting through our Data for Good program and the Nielsen Foundation. To support small businesses, which are the backbone of so many diverse communities, we provide resources, including pro bono consulting, via our Small Business Resources website.
To stay on top of issues that matter to our industry and clients, we work with an external advisory council of marketers and media professionals. They provide diverse perspectives on our various strategies. We also work to influence pro-business and pro-talent policies (including amicus briefs and diversity pledges), and promote representation through census and voting campaigns.
Our global non-discrimination policy
Nielsen is committed to reflecting the diversity of the clients, communities and markets we measure within our own workforce. We exist to count everyone and we embed diversity and inclusion into all aspects of our workforce, measurement and products.
We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action-Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability status, age, marital status, protected veteran status or any other protected class. Our global non-discrimination policy covers these protected classes in every market in which we do business worldwide.
Learn more about how we are embedding diversity, equity and inclusion in everything we do by visiting the Nielsen News Center.
Business Resource Groups
Our BRG program is an inclusive, global program with about 4,000 active members that network across all business areas and geographies to work on our diversity, equity and inclusion goals. These BRG members grow an inclusive culture at Nielsen, drive business growth and innovation through diversity and inclusion, increase BRG participation at all levels, and enable our people associates to be themselves to reach their full potential.
Scroll over the map to see the BRG programs in each location.
Diverse Intelligence Series
Our Diverse Intelligence Series is an annual collection of insights, based on the latest consumer trends from our multiple measurement verticals spanning from retail to entertainment. What started as a series dedicated to multicultural consumers (African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics), today has expanded to include current trends among veterans, LGBTQ+, Native Americans and people living with disabilities.
We have three External Advisory Councils (EACs), comprising business and community leaders as well as industry experts, that represent the African-American, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian Pacific-American communities. The councils share their views on how Nielsen can better recruit, represent and reflect the unique media consumption habits of the multicultural communities in the U.S. We also have long-standing relationships with other community organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), U.S. Business Leadership Network (USBLN) and Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. These groups are part of the collaboration efforts of our Diverse Intelligence Series Reports.
The Diverse Intelligence Series Reports are circulated to our clients and community organizations with the help of our U.S.-based Strategic Community Alliances and Engagement team who manages our community outreach. The reports’ content is also used in advertising campaigns and event sponsorships.
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Community
Supporting diverse communities
African Americans
Stay up-to-date on Nielsen insights and work in black communities in the U.S.
Asian Americans
Check out our research and work with Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI).
Latinx Americans
Learn more about Nielsen insights and work in Hispanic communities in the U.S.