Kemper - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Kemper is Medium Risk.

Kemper Corporation is Medium Risk. The company 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. The company 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	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	High 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:

Medium

Rationale:

Kemper integrates DEI into its supply chain. From its Vendor Code of Conduct: “Kemper expects its Vendors to share its commitment to diversity, inclusion, equal employment opportunity, and a safe and harassment free workplace” (1). However, the company 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:

Kemper does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs (1). The company’s charitable giving focus areas are education, health, and community development (2).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Kemper requires its employees to take unconscious bias and DEI training (1). The company appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its recruitment, hiring, leadership composition, and supply chain. From its 2022 ESG Report: “We have increased our focus on attracting diverse talent and improved our processes to ensure our hiring programs and recruitment agency partnerships yield diverse representation…. A new Supplier Portal was launched to improve the diverse vendor identification process and on-boarding experience; this will serve as the precursor for our forthcoming supplier diversity program…. We believe a diverse Board of Directors brings unique perspectives to our organization, and we are committed to maintaining gender and racial diversity on our Board” (2). Kemper does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (3).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Kemper supports DEI within its business practices, employing a DEI Officer (1). The company supports DEI within its business practices. From its 2023 ESG Report: “Creating an environment that is diverse, equitable and inclusive is imperative to the success of our company” (2). Kemper supports ESG within its business practices. From its 2023 ESG Report: “We have an obligation to our stakeholders to operate responsibly, with a focus on improving our communities through a continued emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors” (3).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Kemper partnered with the National Urban League (1)(2). The company funded “on-campus DE&I organizations and faculty research at [its] HBCU and HSI partner schools” (3). Kemper sponsored Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business DE&I Grow the Good in Business Case Competition (4). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (5).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Kempers’s PAC has been defunct since the early 2000s (1)(2). The company does not report on its lobbying (3)(4).