Discover Earns a Perfect Score for LGBTQ+ Equality Nine Years in a Row

By: Discover Financial Services via Business Wire

February 03, 2022 at 07:00 AM EST

For the ninth consecutive year, Discover has earned a perfect 100 score and been named a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign’s Annual Corporate Equality Index, a benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Discover joins the ranks of more than 840 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year.

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Discover it® Pride Card (Photo: Business Wire)

“Discover is committed to promoting inclusivity, authenticity and allyship among our employees,” said Carlos Minetti, president of consumer banking and executive sponsor of PRIDE, the employee resource group focusing on Discover’s LGBTQ+ community at Discover. “While there is still work to be done, employee surveys show Discover creates an environment where people with diverse backgrounds can succeed and treat each other with dignity and respect.”

Discover has nine Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which play a significant role in upholding Discover’s pillars to sustain a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. The ERGs contribute to each pillar by providing access, opportunity, and exposure for our diverse employee populations. PRIDE is the employee resource group focusing on Discover’s LGBTQ+ community. The PRIDE group helps lead marketing efforts behind Discover’s rainbow card design, known as the Discover it® Pride Card. These efforts have led to a 26% YOY increase in Pride Cards issued in 2021 as compared to 2020.

Discover has an extensive track record of creating and advocating for LGBTQ+-inclusive practices in the workplace and society, including:

Encouraging employees to add their personal pronouns to their signatures to raise awareness of the value of pronouns and open the door for conversations
Supporting employees making gender transitions by creating a gender transition toolkit, a transition advocate group and transgender and gender non-binary training through the DE&I team
Partnering with GenderCool to review policies and practices to design equitable transgender and gender non-binary programs
Removing the lifetime cap of $75,000 on gender transition-related coverage for employees enrolled in a Discover medical plan

“When the Human Rights Campaign Foundation created the Corporate Equality Index 20 years ago, we dreamed that LGBTQ+ workers—from the factory floor to corporate headquarters, in big cities and small towns—could have access to the policies and benefits needed to thrive and live life authentically,” said Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaign senior vice president of programs, research and training. “We are proud that the Corporate Equality Index paved the way to that reality for countless LGBTQ+ workers in America and abroad. But there is still more to do, which is why we are raising the bar yet again to create more equitable workplaces and a better tomorrow for LGBTQ+ workers everywhere.”

For more information about Discover’s culture, diversity efforts and benefits, visit https://jobs.discover.com/.

For more information on the 2022 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei.

About the Human Rights Campaign

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

About Discover

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a digital banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company issues the Discover card, America's cash rewards pioneer, and offers private student loans, personal loans, home loans, checking and savings accounts and certificates of deposit through its banking business. It operates the Discover Global Network comprised of Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance around the world. For more information, visit www.discover.com/company.