Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We’re All In

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at Saks is an all-in effort that touches every area of our company. We’re fully committed to making sure our employees, customers and partners have the opportunity to authentically and proudly represent their different identities, backgrounds, cultures and communities. These varied perspectives positively shape our company and the way we do business.

Our Mission

At Saks, we strive to look at every aspect of our business to ensure that all of our stakeholders can say: I feel welcome. I feel included. I belong. Our mission is to embed this commitment into our culture and fundamental ways of working by holding ourselves accountable to our DEI pillars—which reflect our collective values and impact how we approach our roles and serve our customers.

Our DEI Pillars

Purpose

Leverage the strength of our brand to be a leader in the fashion industry.

People

At every level, build and sustain a high-performing workforce where each individual feels welcome.

Culture

Foster an environment where everyone is respected, valued and has the opportunity to thrive.

Brand

Ensure that our experiences, content and images reflect the diversity of our customer base.

Progress Highlights 2021–2023

100+

Black-owned, -designed and -led brands added

67%

of models featured in our marketing represent diversity of ethnicity, age and size

77%

of donations through the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation directed to underserved communities*

50+

DEI learning and development sessions attended by Saks employees

500+

volunteers across the country supported 10+ organizations through Saks Serves

^{*The Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation includes youth, women, communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community as populations with urgent mental health needs.}

Our Pillar Commitments & Progress

Since launching our DEI roadmap in June of 2021, we’ve made significant progress toward our commitments, which include building a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment across our business.

Purpose

Build Community Resilience

We’re committed to giving back through employee volunteerism and by directing a minimum of 60% of grants annually from the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation to underserved communities.

How We’re Doing It

Our Saks Serves corporate volunteer program provides opportunities for our employees to give back to underserved communities where they live and work. Additionally, through the work of the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation, we support nonprofit organizations that make mental health a priority in every community, with an emphasis on the LGBTQ+ community, communities of color, women and children.

Our Progress

Since March 2021 and through 2023, the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation has donated 77% of its grants to underserved communities in need of mental health support and awareness. In the same timeframe, over 500 Saks Serves volunteers across the country volunteered their time to help underserved communities.

People

Cultivate Diversity in Our Leadership

We’re committed to cultivating talent representing different identities, backgrounds and cultures.

How We’re Doing It

We’re focusing our efforts on diversifying our hiring pipeline, leadership training opportunities and career development programs. We’ve also prioritized mentoring with a focus on historically underrepresented groups in order to grow representation at all levels at Saks.

Our Progress

In order to diversify our hiring pipeline, we have fostered and established ongoing and new partnerships with organizations that advance historically underrepresented communities, as well as historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions. Our partnerships also provide external networking and development opportunities for our employees.

We’ve introduced onboarding and candidate listening programs, standardized interview questions, and developed data-driven ways to identify opportunities for DEI development. Additional training opportunities have also been added related to inclusive leadership and mitigating unconscious bias.

In addition, we’ve recently launched a series for any Saks employee in need of career development, including those from historically underrepresented groups. This includes a mentoring program as well as interview and talent assessment coaching.

Culture

Expand Learning & Development

We’re committed to increasing DEI-specific educational opportunities available to our employees, including fostering empathy and understanding.

How We’re Doing It

We embed principles of DEI throughout our employee engagement and training programs. Our focus areas include cultural intelligence, unconscious bias, gender equality and disability awareness.

Our Progress

We introduced our Courageous Conversations series devoted to discussing DEI-related topics, and formal DEI learning and development programs for all Saks employees, of which we are proud to have held more than 50 sessions. Combined with programming in 2023 led by our employee resource groups, which expanded from six to eight groups in total, these educational opportunities for our employees are vital to ensuring that inclusivity remains an integral part of the conversation across all business areas.

Brand

Discover & Foster New Talent

We’re committed to supporting programs that foster the next generation of fashion talent with an emphasis on groups who have been historically underrepresented in the industry, including Black-owned, -designed and -led brands.

How We’re Doing It

We’ve established a designer accelerator program, The New Wave, to develop and support high-potential independent brands in accelerating their growth at Saks, and ultimately across the fashion industry. The program aims to amplify voices, including those historically underrepresented, while furthering Saks’ commitment to delivering the latest in fashion for its customers. Saks leaders provide advising and consulting, and volunteer their expertise in merchandising, marketing, branding, finance, technology and operations to support each participating brand’s success across the industry.

Working with agencies and nonprofit partners, such as Harlem’s Fashion Row, The Folklore Connect and RAISEfashion, we’ve helped foster designer talent through mentorship and created additional pathways for our merchant teams to discover new brands.

Our Progress

Since the program’s launch in 2021, we’ve given $240,000 of funding in total to approximately 24 participating brands to support and grow their business operations, such as producing samples, purchasing materials and funding marketing campaigns. Additionally, we’ve provided over 90 hours of consulting, and hosted 15 designer roundtables and 41 business education sessions. Between 2021 and the end of 2023, we added more than 100 Black-owned, -designed and/or -led brands to our merchandise assortment, with sales among these brands nearing $90 million.

Brand

Increase Diversity in Our Marketing

We’re committed to featuring talent who reflect the different identities, backgrounds, cultures and communities of our customers.

How We’re Doing It

We’re achieving this goal by adding new casting channels and actively building a pipeline of talent, both in front of and behind the camera, to aid in amplifying diverse voices and sharing their stories authentically.

Our Progress

We’ve expanded our marketing approach to celebrate the diversity of our brand assortment, evolve how consumers see themselves represented within our content, and support how our customers express their identities through relevant and inspiring fashion.

What’s Next

We’re proud of the progress we’ve achieved so far on our DEI journey, and recognize there is still more to be done to create lasting change at Saks and across the fashion industry. Looking ahead, we’ll continue to build on our progress by evolving our strategy and deepening our commitments to maximize our potential impact as a member of the fashion community.

Our DEI Networks

Employee Resource Groups

We strive to ensure our employees are both professionally and personally fulfilled. Our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) reinforce this effort by fostering community and engagement at work, offering opportunities for personal and professional development, and promoting a sense of belonging.

DEI Council & Inclusion Advocates

Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council is comprised of a cross-section of employees from diverse backgrounds and perspectives across different levels and functions of the organization. The Council was formed to represent the voices of the broader employee population in supporting and accelerating DEI objectives aligned with Saks’ overall strategies.

Our Saks Inclusion Advocates are a network of DEI champions from every level, function and location who help us celebrate diversity, champion equity and foster inclusion on our teams and in our workplace. Both the DEI Council and Inclusion Advocates meet with the DEI team regularly to brainstorm, action plan and execute on DEI projects and initiatives.