Leading on DE&I

Recently, our Black employee ERG FGS Noire hosted a fireside chat on the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion work for the Black community. The discussion, featuring Vickee Jordan Adams and Karen Boykin-Towns, focused on recent efforts to undermine DE&I work and the rising fear of backlash around speaking out amongst corporate leadership. 

In highlighting strategies companies can use to safeguard DE&I, they stressed the importance of thoughtful corporate communication. Below are some key takeaways that highlight how companies can better use their voice in support of DE&I work: 

• Develop a process to cross-check potential statements or responses against core values to ensure a strategic, considered approach to DE&I communications. Avoid speaking out about certain issues in a reactionary way. 

• Avoid only speaking out against issues. Be sure to also positively communicate commitments to DE&I.

• Use both internal and external communications platforms to strategically convey DE&I efforts, such as internal statements as well as messaging on websites and other public-facing channels.

• Continue to use words like "diversity" and "inclusion" and discuss DE&I topics in corporate materials rather than removing them due to backlash fears.

• Accept that backlash will come with leadership and support your teams by committing to ethical values and supporting their teams.

Our Digital Team colleagues report Reddit and Tumblr have both made deals to sell data to companies seeking to train their AI. Google has struck a deal worth $60 million per year in exchange for real-time access to Reddit’s data API, which will provide more efficient ways to train models. 

The partnership will allow Reddit content to be displayed in new ways across Google products, particularly in a “Forums” filter in Google search results that lets you browse through results from sites with human discussion. The owner of Tumblr and WordPress is also in talks to provide AI companies Midjourney and OpenAI with training data sourced from all users’ public posts from 2014 through 2023. Tumblr plans to launch a new setting that will allow users to opt out of data sharing with third parties, exclusive of the data dump of content between 2014 and 2023. 

Companies are toeing the line between experimenting with new AI tools to profit off their data and satisfying users’ data and privacy concerns. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently investigating Reddit's plans to license its user-generated content for AI training, as revealed in a recent securities filing by Reddit ahead of its IPO. While Reddit maintains that it does not believe its actions violate consumer protection laws, loyal Reddit users are quick to express discontent and concern, fearing that their privacy is being compromised for corporate profit without clear consent. 

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A strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, H5N1, is spreading among dairy cows across the U.S. after killing millions of birds in recent years. Our Food & Ag team colleagues report bird flu has infected herds across six states since the first reported cases in Texas and Kansas on March 25.

• Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., the largest fresh egg producer in the country, depopulated more than three percent of its flock as a result of the outbreak, raising speculation about an increase in egg prices.

More concerning, Texas State officials reported a person became ill with the bird flu after contact with infected dairy cattle, per The Texas Tribune. The patient’s primary symptom was conjunctivitis, or eye redness, according to the alert. Officials caution that the risk to the general public is still low. 

Federal officials have said “there continues to be no concern about the safety of the commercial milk supply because products are pasteurized before entering the market.” However, officials urge the industry to refrain from manufacturing or selling raw milk or raw/unpasteurized milk cheese products made with milk from cows showing symptoms. 

Scientists say that so far, there isn’t any evidence to suggest that humans can contract bird flu by consuming food that has been pasteurized or cooked, meaning properly cooked meat and eggs and pasteurized milk are unlikely to contribute to the spread.