The ELC Index seeks to help organizations measure and accelerate their journey towards racial equity, specifically regarding their Black employees. The Index will shed light on key organizational best practices (leading indicators) that drive representation goals for Black talent at leadership levels: Talent Strategies; Inclusive Culture; Leadership; and Measurement Maturity. Each of these categories is designed to gauge the comprehensive efforts of organizations in promoting racial equity within their organizations.

The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) is a national organization comprising current and former Black CEOs and senior executives at Fortune 1000 and Global 500 companies. For more than three decades, The ELC has worked to build an inclusive business leadership pipeline. We open channels of opportunity for the development of Black executives to positively impact business and our communities. The ELC Index is an essential tool to help organizations measure their DEI progress over time, review their strategies, identify areas of improvement, and ultimately advance racial equity in a meaningful, measurable manner.

The Index will shed light on leading indicators that drive representation goals for Black talent at leadership levels: Talent Strategies; Inclusive Culture; Organizational and Leadership commitment; and Measurement Maturity.

The ELC Index collects data on race/ethnicity and gender of your U.S. professional workforce for the following: career level representation, hiring, advancement and retention. The Index will also collect information on policies, programs, and practices such as equitable recruitment, succession planning, performance management, leadership development, pay equity, inclusive culture, transparency and accountability, data transparency, DEI investments and external commitments.

Any reporting on data collected will be in the aggregate and completely anonymized.

Participation in The ELC Index is confidential. Data collected from each company will be aggregated and anonymized with data from other participating companies. Individual, identifiable company data will not be shared publicly or with any other participating companies.

Participating organizations will have the choice of public recognition of their participation in the survey and final report.

No, companies will not be scored.

No, there is no cost to participate.

If you are interested in supporting this research initiative, please contact us at survey@elcinfo.com.

Companies that participate will receive advance access to the aggregate report and a complimentary walkthrough of the results and implications for their organization.

Data collection opened late January 2024. Organizations are asked to complete the survey within a two-to-three-month survey window. 

All Fortune 500 and/or ELC member affiliated organizations are invited to participate.