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Southern Co report details equity and social justice work

Southern Company issued a report Tuesday explaining actions it is taking to advance equity within the company and the communities it serves.
Southern Co report details equity and social justice work
Southern Company (PRNewsFoto/Southern Company).

Southern Company issued a report explaining actions it is taking to advance equity within the company and the communities it serves.

The report said that in 2021, the utility--including its operating companies and their foundations--donated $66 million to more than 1,000 organizations working to advance racial equity and social justice.

Southern said it planned to invest $225 million through 2025 to continue this work. That would include $100 million to promote education equity through direct community investments, scholarships for underrepresented groups and investment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); $50 million for organizations that address criminal justice inequities, such as those working to lower criminalization rates, support transition and re-entry into society, create pre-arrest diversion programs and reduce racial profiling; $50 million to support economic empowerment through grants, such as for Black-owned businesses; and $25 million to invest in supporting customers and communities related to energy equity and environmental justice.

The report said that underrepresented groups, including women and people of color, made up 58% of Southern Company’s hires in 2021. All the utility’s companies have begun diversity, equity and inclusion training programs and added inclusivity training for leadership, Southern Company said.

Of the $50 million Southern Company committed to HBCUs in 2020, $40 million has now been pledged, the report said. That includes working with Apple to launch the Propel Center, a business incubator and innovation hub based in Atlanta at the Atlanta University Center, a consortium made up of Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, Morris Brown and Spelman College.

"Make no mistake, this report is a beginning," said CEO Tom Fanning.

You can read the full report here.

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