Hong Kong
The Estée Lauder Companies Steps into the Future as a Beauty Inspired, Values Driven Company
Company Feature, Apr 22, 2021
The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has always been a different kind of company. For 75 years, it has put people, positive impact, sustainability and inclusivity at the heart of everything it does.
The Lauder family’s first philanthropic endeavor was the creation of new and improved play areas for children in New York City’s Central Park in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
As the world marks Earth Day 2021, it faces unprecedented challenges including global warming, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the racial justice movement. As the role of business continues to change more than ever before consumers and employees expect companies to address these crises and actively work toward global solutions. Investors and business partners are also looking for responsible leadership that helps improve the lives of people and the health of our planet.
ELC has long understood that challenges facing communities and long-term business value creation are not separate. Over its seven-decade history, ELC has leveraged the strength of its enterprise and individuality of its portfolio of brands to help drive meaningful impact. This is why the company is proud to bring its 75-year legacy into the future and take its commitments to the next level as a Beauty Inspired, Values Driven company. Stepping up to address these challenges is not only the right thing to do, but an increasingly important thing to do as a values-driven business.
At The Estée Lauder Companies, our success is deeply rooted in our core values and the positive impact we have on our employees, our communities and the planet. Beauty Inspired, Values Driven is our promise to accelerate progress in these areas of strategic importance in order to continue delivering long-term, sustainable growth.
Fabrizio Freda
President and Chief Executive Officer
Beauty Inspired, Values Driven is ELC’s commitment to do more. The company believes in using its business to help drive society forward to deliver value for all stakeholders – employees, consumers, investors and communities – while managing its business with a lens for the long-term.
That’s why ELC is proud to be Beauty Inspired, Values Driven and is committed to environmental stewardship, creating a positive impact in communities, and supporting an inclusive and diverse workforce. Inspired by the beauty of the people, communities and planet, ELC is staying true to the founding family values that have always guided the company. And it’s this guiding vision that will take ELC forward into the next 75 years and beyond.
Founded in 1992, The Breast Cancer Campaign is ELC’s largest corporate social impact program.
The Estée Lauder Companies has a long legacy of putting its values into action to aim to help address some of the world’s biggest challenges. Over the decades, the company has increasingly embedded social and environmental practices across its value chain and leveraged the strength of the enterprise and brands to help drive meaningful impact. Yet, social impact and sustainability programs have been a part of ELC from the beginning and remain at the core of the company’s work today.
ELC is committed to creating a positive social and environmental impact in all it does, including: inclusion, diversity and equity; environmental responsibility; social impact; and employee engagement. Examples include:
- Since its inception in 1992, ELC’s Breast Cancer Campaign has raised more than $99 million to support global research, education, and medical services.
- M•A•C VIVA GLAM’s groundbreaking campaign has to date raised more than $500 million for the global fight against HIV/AIDS and recently expanded its mission to support health and rights for all, with a focus on women and girls and the LGBTQA community.
- And in 2020, the company achieved Net Zero emissions and is sourcing 100% renewable electricity globally for its direct operations.
An on-site solar array at ELC’s Melville, NY campus, part of the company’s growing renewable energy portfolio.
While this is only a small portion of ELC’s work, the company is also committed to taking its commitments to the next level and is building upon this legacy.
The company is committed to:
- Elevating its climate actions and setting ambitious science-based targets (SBTs) for greenhouse gas emissions.
- Increasing its focus on racial equity and committing to donating $10 million over the next three years to support racial and social justice.
- Aiming to level the playing field for all genders inside and outside of the company through its women’s equity strategy: Opening Doors: Women’s Advancement and Gender Equality.
- Engaging its entire portfolio of brands to align with at least one social or environmental cause by 2025.
ELC employees volunteering at the Fresh Air Fund.
And this is just the start of ELC’s journey. Alongside employees and consumers who share the company’s vision for a better world, ELC is inspired by those who work hard every day to support their communities, celebrate diverse perspectives, and create a more sustainable world.
Family values are at the core of The Estée Lauder Companies. It’s who we are and who we have always been. As the company continues its journey to create a brighter future, the collective vision of our ELC family around the world and our spirit of community, will continue to propel us forward.
William P. Lauder
Executive Chairman
The company is proud of the progress it has made, but also recognizes there is more work to be done. ELC promises to hold itself accountable to its commitments and actions. The products, brands, and company have the power to help create a more equitable and resilient world, using its business as a lever for change, leading with the values that have always guided the company. Because being a Beauty Inspired, Values Driven company means putting ELC’s values into action to better people and the planet - for this generation and those to come.
