Michael Littenberg Discusses Racial Equity Audits for Private Equity

In the second of a two-part Q&A with Private Equity Law Report, partner and global head of the ESG, CSR and business and human rights practice Michael Littenberg discussed the racial equity audit process for a PE sponsor’s portfolio companies.

In the Q&A, Michael broke down the five key elements of a racial equity audits to bolster a company’s DEI efforts: define the goals, scope, and breadth of the review; communicate plans to all stakeholders; collect data on values, DEI maturity, and demographics; analyze the data to develop “digestible,” data-driven reports; and create an action plan.

“It’s also worth noting that we iterate the recommendations with internal stakeholders at companies rather than delivering a final report like Moses coming down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. When consultants just deliver reports that are not prepared in collaboration with companies, often those gather dust and never achieve the goals of the exercise,” Michael said.

Part one of the Q&A series addressed the purpose and future trends of racial equity audits in the private equity industry. Subscribers can view the full article here.