Toast, Inc. - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Toast, Inc. is Medium Risk.

Toast 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. Toast 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	High 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	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:

Toast received a score of 65 on the 2025 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a political stakeholder group. The company recruits employees based on sexual identity issues. The company discriminates against vendors that do not promote divisive sex and gender policies, indicating it prioritizes sexual issues over merit (1)(2). The company integrates ESG into its business practices. From its 2024 ESG Report: “Toast’s Corporate Social Responsibility Executive Committee, composed of C-suite executives including Toast’s CEO and Co-Founders, provides broader oversight on ESG strategy, roadmap and goals” (3). However, the company has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (4).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Toast likely uses Benevity as its charitable giving platform. Benevity vets charities according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hate List, which includes mainstream libertarian, conservative, family, and religious advocacy organizations (1)(2)(3).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Toast offers DEI training to its employees (1)(2). The company 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:

The company’s former CEO, Chris Comparato, 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 (1)(2). Toast is a member of the “Don’t Ban Equality” business coalition, which advocates against any abortion restrictions because they are “bad for business”” (3). The company supports DEI within its business practices, hosting a DEI team (4). Toast supports DEI within its business practices. From its Inclusion and Impact page: “Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion strengthens our ability to serve an incredibly diverse industry” (5). The company supports ESG within its business practices. From its 2023 ESG Report: “Toast’s VP level cross-functional ESG Committee is accountable for implementing our ESG Roadmap” (6). Toast has encouraged restaurants to be “inclusive” and donate to the LGBTQ community (7).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Toast’s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company covers transgender related costs for its employees and their children, including paid short-term leave, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, chest surgeries, genital surgeries, medical visits and lab monitoring, travel and lodging. By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company increases health care costs and risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (1)(2). The company is a Copper sponsor of Out & Equal (3). Toast sponsored the Big Queer Food Fest (4)(5).
Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (6).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Toast does not operate a PAC at this time and has not used its lobbying for ideological purposes (1)(2)(3).