Harley-Davidson - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Harley-Davidson is Lower Risk.

Harley-Davidson had a history of divisive employment policies, giving to controversial groups, and engaging with political stakeholder organizations. However, in August 2024, the company pledged to shift its corporate policies and practices away from stakeholder capitalism and back to neutral. Harley-Davidson pledged to stop sponsoring nonbusiness activities, stop engaging with a political activist group, eliminate DEI within the company, and empty its employee training of socially motivated content. For these reasons, Harley-Davidson receives a Lower Risk rating.

Rating Criteria

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

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	Medium Risk
Funding	Lower Risk
Political Actions	Lower Risk

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:

Medium

Rationale:

In 2022, Harley-Davidson updated its foundation’s endowment portfolio to “include additional ESG investments to support organizations and businesses aligned with our values of promoting positive environmental and social impact”. It “[strives] to reduce [its] environmental impact across all aspects of the business” (1). However, Harley-Davidson has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (2).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Harley-Davidson 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:

Harley-Davidson 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:

Medium

Rationale:

Harley-Davidson is committed to “inclusive stakeholder management” over traditional shareholder obligations (1). Harley-Davidson is committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and LiveWire is committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2035 (2). Harley-Davidson scored a 45 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index. However, in August 2024, the company pledged to shift its corporate policies and practices back to neutral. Harley-Davidson pledged to stop sponsoring nonbusiness activities, stop submitting data to the HRC, eliminate DEI within the company, and empty its employee training of socially motivated content (3)(4)(5)(6). In October 2025, Harley-Davidson appointed its new CEO, Artie Starrs who formerly served as CEO at Pizza Hut and Top Golf. Harley-Davidson’s commitment to corporate neutrality stands in contrast to several initiatives supported during Starrs’ tenure at Pizza Hut, prompting criticism about whether the company’s stated direction will continue under his leadership. During his tenure at Pizza Hut, Starrs supported a holiday fundraising partnership with the company’s literacy partner, First Book, and Karamo Brown, the “Culture Expert” on Netflix’s Queer Eye and author of the children’s book I Am Perfectly Designed. The initiative raised funds to provide children with diverse and culturally representative books. Under Starrs’ leadership, Pizza Hut also supported First Book’s Stories for All Project, which offers “diverse books and resources that reflect myriad experiences, cultures, and communities.” In addition, the company backed the First Book Accelerator, a program that provided educators with resources for navigating conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion (7)(8)(9)(10).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Harley-Davidson had a history of sponsoring divisive social events. However, in August 2024, the company pledged to shift its corporate policies and practices back to neutral (1)(2). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of Harley-Davidson using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (3).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Harley-Davidson has not used its PAC donations or lobbying for ideological purposes (1)(2)(3).