Beautycounter - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Beautycounter is Medium Risk.

Beautycounter often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. Beautycounter occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Lower Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	Medium Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	No Data

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Beautycounter has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (1).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Beautycounter does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs (1).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Beautycounter does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (1).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Beautycounter advocated for involvement with progressive racial equity groups, including but not limited to the BLM organization and the ACLU (1). The company has also encouraged viewers to read ideological books such as White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. Beautycounter has committed to public advocacy for LGBTQ causes and pro-abortion legislation (2)(3). BeautyCounter supports ESG within its business practices and committed to a net-zero carbon pledge (4). The company has signed the “CodeRed4Climate” pledge, which advocates for a legislative platform including an end to all federal subsidization of the non-renewable energy sector (5). Beautycounter has committed to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (6). The company’s CEO, Gregg Renfrew, signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which includes a commitment to promote DEI through bias education training in the workplace, strategize on DEI programs/initiatives with other signatories, and engage boards of directors when developing and evaluating DEI strategies (7)(8).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Beautycounter funds “anti-racist organizations,” primarily Black Women for Wellness, which lobbies against strict abortion legislation and partners with organizations such as Planned Parenthood (1)(2)(3).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

BeautyCounter does not operate a PAC or engage in lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).