NADA widens diversity, inclusion efforts

In early June, as protests erupted across the nation over the death of George Floyd, an African American man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis, National Automobile Dealers Association CEO Peter Welch had a message for his members.

"Racism and discrimination have no place in the car business, or America," he said in a blog post at the time. "We must root them out together."

While protests, demonstrations and civil unrest over police brutality, inequality and racism are ongoing in the U.S., NADA has put a spotlight on its own efforts to improve diversity, inclusion and equity within the organization and among its 16,000-plus members by implementing changes designed to bring more diverse voices to the table.

During NADA's Oct. 20 board meeting — held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic — the association's directors passed a series of resolutions and bylaw amendments to foster and broaden the diversity of its leadership.

"I refer to it as 'The Awakening,' " Welch, who is retiring at the end of the year, said of the efforts.

Recent actions include an NADA-adopted proclamation affirming its belief that the auto sector — as one of the nation's most important industries — should be leading the way on work force diversity and committing to stronger support of diversity, inclusion and equity. The proclamation also emphasized the need for organizations such as NADA and the auto retailing industry at large to "rededicate themselves to the goals of increasing diversity, equity and inclusion within their purviews."

"We have such a big footprint in the industry, and in the retail industry, that we intend to lead by example," Welch told Automotive News.

To achieve those goals, NADA directors passed a bylaw amendment that expands the number of at-large seats reserved specifically for female dealers to three from two and for minority dealers to three from two.

Welch said the association will now divide the country into thirds: East, Central and West regions.

Michelle Primm, managing partner of Cascade Auto Group in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, currently represents female dealers east of the Mississippi River. Valerie Bowen, president of ValMark Chevrolet in New Braunfels, Texas, represents female dealers west of the river.

Minority dealers east of the Mississippi River are represented by Desmond Roberts, president of Advantage Chevrolet in Hodgkins, Ill. Donald Hicks, president of Shoreline Auto Group in Aurora, Colo., represents minority dealers west of the river.

The new seats will be filled via upcoming board elections this fall and in the spring of 2021, increasing NADA's board member headcount to 65 from 63.

"In one fell swoop, we're going to assure that we're going to have more representation," Welch said.

Another policy was implemented that mandates at least one female and one minority dealer serve on the 17-member executive committee at all times — a requirement it has already met.

Roberts, who also is vice chairman for Region III on NADA's executive committee, said the changes are a good first step that was "long overdue," but more can be done.

"People's perspectives are shaped by their environment and their background, and even though majority dealers might have good intentions about diversity and inclusion, the perspective that they bring is not the same perspective as a minority who has lived with, essentially, the lack of diversity and great exclusion," Roberts said.

Overall, he said he would like the future of auto retailing to be more representative of the U.S., where minority groups make up more than 40 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"The number of minorities who buy cars is significantly higher than the number of representatives that we have as minority dealers," Roberts said.

As of December 2019, there were 1,243 minority-owned dealerships in the U.S., according to data from the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers, a sibling association of NADA. That number rose 2.3 percent from 2018, when there were 1,215 minority-owned stores. Overall, there were about 18,200 dealerships in 2019.

While there's always room for improvement, Welch said, it just makes good business sense to embrace diversity and inclusiveness. "When we take a look at the consistency of our customers' base, it's very diverse: 32 percent of new-car and -truck customers are ethnic minorities and growing," he said. "We need a diverse work force to match that in the communities."

At NADA, about 41 percent of its 160 employees are women and about 20 percent are minorities, Welch said. "We're always looking to improve those numbers," he noted.

From within, NADA has created an internal inclusiveness committee led by Claudia Kropf, vice president of human resources. The eight-member committee is employee-driven and meets monthly to start a dialogue, raise awareness and come up with recommendations for how to improve as an organization.

NADA also has joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Equality of Opportunity Initiative, a nationwide effort to advance economic inclusion through business leadership. Myra Dandridge, NADA's first executive director of external affairs and public policy, is spearheading the endeavor.

"We want to reflect both our communities and our customer base," Welch said.

"People need to be treated equally. And we here at NADA — and the board through its proclamation — has said, 'That's right. We want equality.' "