- On Sunday, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced that the ride-share company is donating $1 million dollar to two criminal justice reform groups.
- The donations will go to the Center for Policing Equity, a think tank that supports police transparency and equity, and the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit that fights mass incarceration.
- Khosrowshahi is not the first tech CEO to speak out in the wake of the Floyd George killing and nation-wide unrest, but Uber is the first tech company to make such a large donation.
- Uber has recieved criticism for the ways it has handled social justice issues in the past, inlcuding the #DeleteUber campaign that caused hundreds of thousands to leave the platform.
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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced on Sunday that the company would be donating a total of $1 million to two criminal justice reform groups “in solidarity with the Black community and with peaceful protests.”
Khosrowshahi made the comments on Twitter, condemning racism and inequality, and endorsing reform for the American criminal justice system.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>But it’s clear that lasting change will only come from reforming the systems that have led us to where we are today. To that end, we’re donating $1M to <a href=”https://twitter.com/eji_org?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@eji_org</a> and <a href=”https://twitter.com/PolicingEquity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@PolicingEquity</a> to support their important work in making criminal justice in America more just for all. (2/2)</p>— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) <a href=”https://twitter.com/dkhos/status/1267171988998479873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 31, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Khosrowshahi said that Uber plans to donate to two groups, the Center for Policing Equity, a think tank that supports police transparency and equity, and the Equal Justice Initiative, a group that fights mass incarceration and operates the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.
The news comes after five days of sustained and escalating nationwide protests against the police killing of Floyd George. Earlier on Sunday, Amazon tweeted out its own statement of support for the protestors. On Saturday, T-Mobile, Microsoft Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan, and Zillow CEO Rich Barton all tweeted their own statements of support, while Twitter posted a message earlier in the week.
Uber is the first to announce a direct donation.
Of course, Uber has previously recieved criticism for its social justice record. A 2016 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Uber drivers are more than twice as likely to cancel a ride if they believe that the passenger is black. Uber's chief people officer resigned in 2018 over allegations that she mishandled an investigation into racial discrimination.
Uber recieved widespread criticism for breaking a strike and even using surge prices during a New York protest against President Donat Trump's travel ban in 2017. The #DeleteUber hashtag that ffollowed led hundreds of thousands of users to delete the app, even earning a place as a potential risk factor in the company's S-1 filing before its 2019 IPO.
Khosrowshahi joined the company in 2017, replacing embattled founder Travis Kalanick.
