Canadian Company tackles racism in the auto industry
Cox automotive launches black employee Network
Systemic racism is a huge and troubling issue, but one Canadian company has been specifically working to fight it for the past year. In February 2020, Cox Automotive Canada launched its Black Employee Network (BEN), encouraging staff and others in the industry to take a stand against racism.
Cox Automotive is a global company with more than 34,000 employees, and they work in partnership with more than 55,000 auto dealers. It is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, Inc., which has served the auto industry since 1926.
Almost every aspect of how we buy, sell, and use cars is affected by work Cox does through its many arms, which in Canada include technology platforms Clutch, Dealer.com, Homenet, Modix, vauto, Vinsolutions, Xtime, and Dealertrack. It also includes vehicle evaluator Kelley Blue Book, auto auction company Manheim, credit company Nextgear Capital, transport company Ready Logistics, analytics firm RMS Automotive, and collaboration with online automotive marketplace Cargurus.
Maria Soklis, president of Cox Automotive Canada & Brazil since 2015, is blunt about changes the company knew it had to make. The social unrest was too big to ignore.
“We turned to our Black members for insight. We knew we had to have many difficult, often uncomfortable conversations, but we also knew we would be unwavering in our stance to providing the support networks to our team members.”
The formation of the Black Employee Network led to intense dialogues where Black employees embraced the freedom to tell their stories. Emiliano Void, National operations manager and co-chair of the BEN, knew systemic problems would require systematic solutions. He doesn’t mince words.
“Unfortunately, all Black people, including myself, have experienced some form of anti-black and systemic racism in their lives, and these experiences can never be turned into something
positive. However, these experiences do lay a foundation that is driving important conversations to ensure that future generations will not face similar hurdles.”
As the company was assembling its BEN and commencing what it called Real About Race conversations, the Blacknorth Initiative (BNI) was also gaining steam. Backed by 200 corporate leaders in Canada, including three of the big banks, the organization was running parallel goals to
what Cox was already initiating in-house.
Recognizing that, Soklis made Cox Automotive Canada the first automotive-industry company to sign the BNI pledge in November of 2020. Hyundai soon followed suit.
While BEN was initiated by Cox’s Canadian arm, Void notes that while they were creating the first Black-focused employee resource group in any Cox Automotive market.
“The work that our BEN team is doing here in Canada is (now) leading some very important and meaningful conversations about anti-black and systemic racism locally, but we are also very excited and proud that many of our colleagues from the U.S. and international markets have connected with us to collaborate on this subject.”
Soklis and Void point out some easily attainable wins to overcome the lack of diversity some don’t even see, and for Soklis, that’s marketing material. She says “changing the focus and intention is something everybody can afford to do.”
Soklis is quick to acknowledge the company has only just begun to make changes, and that recruiting must target more diverse groups.
“Some recruiters are changing, but the message must come from the company, that we expect them to find more diverse candidates. It might take longer, or require different approaches, but we will do this.”
Void said it is clear from recent events that we are far from where we need to be.