Even amid a pandemic and a key election year, employers have faced heightened expectations regarding diversity and inclusion. 

While the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed put the spotlight on corporate D&I, momentum in this area had been building prior to those events; the number of execs with D&I titles doubled since 2015, a June report from ZoomInfo revealed. But deliberate company action this year has made headlines. Adidas’ former HR chief, for example, resigned after employees reportedly called for change. In a published statement, Karen Parkin, executive board member for global human resources, said it had "become clear to me that to unify the organization it would be better for me to retire and pave the way for change."

Not all D&I progress has resulted in sackings, however. Many companies made strides this year in varied, complex ways — even as the world still reckons with unprecedented change.