Frequently Asked Questions

The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a racial equity and economic justice non-profit organization working towards a more equitable economic future. In recognition that Black people in the U.S. make up nearly 15% of the population, the Pledge is calling on major retailers and corporations to commit a minimum of 15% of their annual purchasing power to Black-owned businesses, in addition to other internal and external efforts to support equal opportunity for Black people in the workplace.

To date, 28 companies across three countries have committed to the Fifteen Percent Pledge. 

The full list includes: Athleta, Banana Republic, Bloomingdales, Blue Mercury, CB2,Crate & Barrel, Crate & Kids, Gap Inc., Hudson’s Bay,Indigo (CA),InStyle U.S., JCrew, KITH,Macy’s Inc., Madewell, MATCHESFASHION (UK), Medmen, Moda Operandi, Next Model Management, Nordstrom, Old Navy, Rent the Runway, Sephora, Sephora Canada, Ulta, Vogue Magazine,West Elm, and Yelp.

Launched in 2020 by Aurora James, the initiative was born from seeing multiple acts of injustice and police brutality in the United States with a lack of accountability for the systemic issues at play.

Over 13% of people living in the United States identify as Black and another estimated 2% identify as mixed race, totaling 15%. At The Fifteen Percent Pledge, we feel that 15% is the least that these major retailers can do to help close the financial gap in this country.

Head over to this page to find out more information on retailers taking the Pledge.

Check out our new Consumer Commitment!

Our amazing task force is actively putting together a comprehensive list of Black-owned business in various industries. You can check out our growing community here!

We are honored to welcome your business into our growing community of Black-owned businesses. Please follow the instructions below to register your business:

1. Head to 15percentpledge.org

2. At the top right, select "Join Our Business Equity Community"

3. At the bottom of the pop-up window, select "Register"

4. Complete the requested fields and verify your email address.

5. From here you can begin completing your business page with images and relevant links and descriptions! Then, once you're ready you can click publish to make it visible in the directory.

Yes! The Fifteen Percent Pledge welcomes Indigenously Owned businesses to join our Businesses Equity Community as our Canadian pledge-takers take the pledge through a BIPOC lens.

This pledge is not prescriptive, because we understand that each business, each milestone, each change, is unique, and especially in the shadow of COVID-19, it is not realistic to assume that change can happen in full overnight. These changes will also require tackling large systemic problems that may take months and years to address. The problems you uncover should fully inform the solutions you set forth, as well as the timeline along which they can be achieved. But while we have not recommended a timeline, urgency and expediency are of the essence - challenge yourself to make bold changes as quickly as possible, and set near term milestones and benchmarks against which to measure meaningful steps towards the ultimate goal.

Frankly, everyone’s are. You are not alone. But you can take the brave and vital step of owning where you are at--acknowledging that you are not above one of the biggest problems facing society today--systemic racism--and being proactive in claiming that you plan to be part of the solution. Let’s be real - this information is available already to the public, to anyone enthusiastic enough to do their research--so you are not divulging any secrets that someone mildly proactive couldn’t uncover on your website. Now is your chance to get ahead of this.

While this pledge was initially conceived by members of the retail and fashion industries with an eye towards mobilizing large multi-brand retailers to grow their share of shelf-space dedicated to Black-owned businesses, we fully believe that the spirit of this pledge and the steps we propose can be adopted across industries and in the lives of every individual, even at the consumer level. We encourage you to take this pledge in your own life, and share with us how you can implement a plan into your own life or within your company.