Did you know that 1 in 4 Utahns is a racial or ethnic minority? Utah is the 34th most racially and ethnically diverse state in the U.S., just below Pennsylvania and above several larger states like Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
Utah’s minority share of the population is expected to increase to one in three Utahns by 2060. Salt Lake City also ranks as one of the top 10 gay-friendly cities in the U.S.
A diversified workforce includes people with variety across several categories such as religion, culture, gender, sexual orientation, language, educational background, and abilities.
Utah’s diverse population offers immense benefits to the businesses operating across the state. One study by the Boston Consulting Group found that companies with a diverse workforce and increased innovation generated 19% more revenue than companies with lower diversity scores.
“There is no doubt we are stronger as a state when we embrace our differences and use our diversity as an asset.” —Utah Governor Spencer Cox
Building belonging is just as important as building diverse teams. EDCUtah heard from Utah employers throughout the state – large and small, across industries and geographies – that fostering belonging for employees and their families is an increasingly important priority.
This toolkit, created jointly by EDCUtah and the Center for Economic Opportunity & Belonging (The Center), is full of tested and proven practices for building cultures of belonging in the workplace.
Are you ready to build a culture of belonging in your organization? Download the toolkit designed specifically for Utah employers.
We’ve all had moments when we felt like we didn’t belong. Sharing our stories and listening to the experiences of others can help combat isolation and foster warm personal connections.
Produced by Comcast, EDCUtah, and the Center for Economic Opportunity & Belonging, this video was created as a resource for Utah employers who want to build cultures of belonging in the workplace. The video explores the power of storytelling in creating connection.
The Telly Award-winning video "We Are Utah" features Utah executives from a variety of backgrounds as they share their Utah stories. This video - produced by Comcast, EDCUtah, and the Center for Economic Opportunity & Belonging - is intended to serve as a resource for companies seeking to recruit and retain talent from diverse backgrounds.
Utah employers are successfully hiring, retaining, and elevating world-class talent from many diverse backgrounds. Click on the logos below to read in-depth interviews with DEI experts. Current stories include:
Utah is home to many terrific advocacy groups who connect, support, and elevate diverse and underrepresented talent. EDCUtah works closely with these partner organizations and can make local introductions to additional advocacy groups upon client request. In addition to the partners below, Magnify Utah maintains a wide range of resources for diverse Utahns and their families.
To stay informed about news and events affecting Utah's multicultural communities, sign up for the weekly newsletter from the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs.
EDCUtah is committed to demonstrating diversity, equity, and inclusion in our own operations and to taking a leadership role in making Utah a welcoming place for talented people from all backgrounds. We are proud to have incubated the Center for Economic Opportunity & Belonging (the Center), whose mission is to engage with communities of color and catalyze private and philanthropic partnerships to remedy racial disparities in economic opportunity, education, health, and housing in Utah.
"Economic development and diversity, equity and inclusion are connected at the hip. It's imperative that we enable every dynamic in a community. Nobody can be left out if we're going to reach an economy's full potential." — Tom Morgan, executive vice president of Zions Bank and EDCUtah board member
During its annual meeting held September 22 at the Salt Lake Bees stadium, EDCUtah celebrated significant successes of the past fiscal year. In addition, the organization recognized community members David Lang, Natalie Gochnour, and the Utah Transit Authority for their outstanding leadership in economic development.
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EDCUtah is highlighting a Utah community organization or multicultural resource group each month, as part of an effort to inform our investors about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) best practices and resources in Utah. For September’s profile, we talked with Silvia Castro, Executive Director, and Edward Bennett, Director of Business Development, at the Suazo Business Center.
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The Walton Family Foundation, the Jacquelyn and Gregory Zehner Foundation, and the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation have announced their support for the EDCUtah Center for Economic Opportunity and Belonging (CEOB).
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Utah Policy – edited by Holly Richardson – gives a concise summary of Utah findings in the latest Census.
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Utah’s population has the highest percentage of Pacific Islanders of the Lower 48 states. Since 2012, August has been recognized and celebrated as Utah Pacific Island Heritage Month. We spoke with Susi Feltch-Malohifo’ou, Co-founder and Executive Director of Pacific Islander Knowledge to Action Resource (PIK2AR) to learn more.
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This is the second in a series of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) profiles on local community organizations and multicultural resource groups. These articles are part of an effort to inform EDCUtah investors about DEI best practices and resources in Utah.
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Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are top priorities as Northrop Grumman embarks on adding over 2,000 positions in Utah over the next two years. We spoke to Kerri Harris, Manager, HR Business Partner, and Iris Lovell, Senior Principal, HR Business Partner, to learn more.
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A conversation on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) with CEO Roy Banks of tech unicorn Weave
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The Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) is pleased to announce that Ze Min Xiao has accepted the position of director of the newly formed Center for Economic Opportunity and Belonging.
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In nearly two decades in economic development, EDCUtah chief operating officer Mike Flynn had seen nothing like the recent pandemic-driven hiatus in site visits. But times are changing.
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New York, London, Bangalore, Salt Lake City. Many Utahns know that Goldman Sachs’ Salt Lake City office is the fourth largest in the world, but fewer know the story — or the leadership — behind its success.
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Founded in Salt Lake City in 1873, Zions Bank has been a leading financial institution in the Intermountain West and a cornerstone of the Utah community for nearly 150 years. Today, the bank is also a leader in Utah’s drive toward diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), most recently as one of the original signatories of the Utah Compact for Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
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Minneapolis-based M.A. Mortenson Company employs over 6,000 team members in regional offices, traveling groups, and project sites across the country.
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We continue our conversation with Nubia Peña, Director of the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs. You can read Part I here.
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You’ve heard us talking a lot more about “DEI” or “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” lately.
read moreNubia Peña was appointed as the Director of the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs in June 2019 and was recently named Senior Advisor of Equity and Opportunity for Governor Cox’s administration. We recently marked a year of the COVID-19 pandemic and we caught up with her to find out more about efforts to support multicultural communities during the public health crisis and beyond. Here's Part I.
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Energy company Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is ensuring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are a part of their daily operations in Utah and beyond. We spoke with Blair Blackwell, Corporate Affairs Manager, and Kristina Brown, Corporate Affairs Representative, at the company’s Utah refinery to learn more.
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We recently caught up with two Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) experts at Goldman Sachs.
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In 2020, Tom Morgan of Zions Bank took the reins as chair of EDCUtah’s Board of Trustees. Tom brings deep nonprofit experience, a fresh leadership philosophy, and even a little Olympic-adjacent experience to the role. As many of our investors haven’t had the chance to meet him due to the pandemic, we sat down to interview him by way of introduction.
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Domo is a leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) best practices among the newest generation of homegrown Utah employers. We spoke with Nikki Walker, Director of Brand Experience and Community Engagement, and Cameron Williams, Director of Partners Solutions and Diversity, at Domo to learn more.
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This is the first of several case studies covering the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) best practices of leading Utah businesses. We spoke with Wendy Steinle, Adobe’s Site Leader in Lehi, UT, and Archana Thiagarajan, head of the DEI efforts on the Lehi site leadership team.
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Equality Utah is the state’s LGBTQ advocacy organization, with a mission to make sure Utah’s laws include and protect the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual/queer community. Equality Utah is a partner organization with EDCUtah. We caught up with executive director Troy Williams to learn more about their remarkable success.
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