Our Communities
We are committed to the betterment of our communities, both inside our organization and out. We are working diligently to create change and foster a family-centric environment dedicated to associate growth and lifting underserved communities by dedicating resources to provide training, development, and an inclusive culture. Guided by our core values, we chart a path not toward an imagined finish line, but in the interest of progress itself. We're evolving, learning, and growing daily as we pursue meaningful change—but our work is never done.
DE&I and Associate Growth
New Balance is dedicated to operating with integrity and unity in all aspects of our business. We define ourselves by our actions. Our active investment in diversity, equity, and inclusion is a top priority to which we are steadfastly committed.
- Taking a people-first approach and aligning our actions with our values
- Paving an independent path that prioritizes progress and challenges convention in the industry and the world at large
- Aiming to improve diverse representation across all levels of the organization and creating a workplace that supports equal opportunity and access for all
- Working to foster meaningful change, and a diverse, equal, and inclusive environment within our company and the global communities in which we operate
We are proud of our diverse global team, our culture of inclusion, and our commitment to bettering our world. Our focus remains on connecting the energy and passion of our associates with our global resources to support and uplift all of our communities.
Associate Resource Groups
ARGs are associate-led, self directed groups formed around common interests and backgrounds to build community, provide collective insight, create development opportunities for associates, and drive change within our organization. The ARGs at New Balance are critical to our DE&I strategy, as they strengthen our culture of inclusivity and contribute to the organization’s overall success.
New Balance ARGs include Asiatic Voices, Black Soles, Hola, Prism Alliance, and She Got Now.
P.A.C.E.
New Balance employs Gap Inc.’s Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.) program to drive progress toward our 2025 goal: to have 100% of women workers in our strategic footwear factories participate in personal and career development programs. P.A.C.E. is an innovative curriculum-based learning program to help improve the lives of women workers in the global supply chain. Through P.A.C.E., workers learn effective communication skills that can contribute to better decision making, problem solving, time management and stress management. P.A.C.E. workers are also taught practical skills including financial literacy, water sanitation and hygiene knowledge. We are currently implementing the program in footwear factories in Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, which employ over 50,000 women workers.
We are proud to unite with Gap, Inc. and CARE to sponsor the P.A.C.E. program for marginalized and at-risk adolescent girls and boys in West Java, Indonesia. This program promotes greater gender equality by improving girls’ agency, life skills, and leadership ability and helping young boys support girls’ leadership in their school and community.
Athlete Advisory Board
The New Balance Athlete Advisory Board is a specialized collective of professional athletes, company executives and brand associates that enable strategic decisions powered by community engagement. The unprecedented group is a guiding force within New Balance, giving athletes a seat at the table to drive positive change.
The board is led by former professional baseball player and community activist Curtis Granderson and Olympic Bronze Medal Winner and 9-time National Champion Emma Coburn and supported by professional baseball player Francisco Lindor, professional runner Brenda Martinez, tennis star Milos Raonic, and professional basketball player Darius Bazley.
Creating Access &
Opportunity
New Balance is fighting system inequities by funding educational access to promote diversity and inclusion. We believe education, at all social levels, can stop the rise and spread of discriminatory practices and foster intercultural exchanges by challenging assumptions and advancing diversity. Through our corporate and New Balance Foundation actions, we are investing resources into global communities to create access and opportunity for those most vulnerable to inequality.
University of Massachusetts Boston
New Balance's relationship with UMass Boston and the Dr. J. Keith Motley Endowment Sport Leadership and Administration Bachelor of Arts program creates new and diverse career pathways for students pursuing sports management and leadership career opportunities. The SLA program was created through a $5 million gift from New Balance in 2018.
In 2022, the SLA program hosted the inaugural Equity in Sport Leadership Conference. The event focused on transformative change through sport in the 21st century, and included speaker and attendee led discussions on student-athlete activism, mental health, diversity in leadership, human rights in sport, and issues of equity in sports marketing, branding, and analytics.
Through a shared purpose to empower people through sport and create positive change in communities around the world, New Balance and UMB continue to work together to advance diversity in the sports industry.
Community Goods
Founded by Joe Freshgoods, Community Goods is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for youth to build leadership, teamwork, and citizenship skills through creative expression. In 2022, New Balance donated $100,000 to Community Goods to provide students in and from underserved communities with the tools and education to understand the value of art and community — and to thrive in the creative space.
New Balance
Foundation
Since its founding in 1981, the New Balance Foundation works diligently toward solutions that close opportunity and achievement gaps and fuel positive systemic change. In partnership with its network of 65 grantees, including Harlem Lacrosse, Good Sports, Playworks, and local Boys & Girls Clubs, the New Balance Foundation engages thousands of youth and underserved families, with more than $125 million in total grants through 2021.
