CHICAGO — S&C Electric Company, a Chicago-based grid innovator improving power reliability and delivery worldwide, has been named to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI). The CEI is a national benchmarking survey that measures corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality.
Focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, S&C prioritizes the needs of all team members by creating inclusive policies and benefits. S&C scored an 80 out of 100 on the CEI criteria, which evaluates companies on four central pillars: non-discrimination policies across business entities, equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families, corporate social responsibility, and support for an inclusive culture.
“Our commitment to sustaining a workplace where all team members feel accepted and supported is deeply rooted in S&C’s company values,” said Felicia Kohlenberger, S&C’s Chief Human Resources Officer. “As an employee-owned company, we work to ensure there is a place for everyone and that our team members feel comfortable being themselves. Every day, we aim to foster an inclusive environment where all team members willingly contribute diverse ideas and empower each other to reach their full potential.”
In addition to having corporate policies inclusive to the LBGTQ+ community, S&C is home to Spectrum, an affinity group that helps foster a safe environment for LGTBQ+ team members, supports LGBTQ+-inclusive company policies, and educates all S&C team members about the LGBTQ+ community and meaningful allyship. In the last year, this team has hosted events to help educate the S&C population on the transgender and non-binary community, gender identity, pronoun use, and how to be an effective ally.
S&C is also one of the 500 major businesses within the Human Rights Campaign Foundations’ Business Coalition for Equality Act—the largest coalition of major businesses for legal LGBTQ+ equality. Members of the coalition join a majority of Americans, hundreds of members of Congress, advocacy organizations, and more than 60 business associations in supporting federal legislation that protects the LGBTQ+ population from discrimination.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s CEI is open to any company based in the United States and is focused on driving LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion. In 2022, 1,271 major U.S. businesses were included in the Corporate Equality Index. The CEI report is available here and contains a breakdown of each business’s rating in the appendix.
