Mindfulness is central to our culture at lululemon—for a business with yoga at our core, we make it a practice to ground ourselves through thoughtful, intentional reflection, and consider, “Where are we now? Where do we want to go?”
International Women’s Day is an opportunity to reflect on what we have achieved through mindful decisions. This year, in the spirit of transparency and progress, lululemon has shared our pay equity journey and commitments to date. I am so proud and grateful to be at a company that lives and breathes its values, and also acknowledge the journey it took to get here. Pay equity takes work, and it is achievable at any scale when addressed with intention.
lululemon is in the constant practice of fostering an equal and inclusive environment, and in 2017, our journey brought us to commit to gender pay equity—ensuring that our people were receiving equal pay for equal work. In a global organization comprised of 78% women, it was important not to assume, but to look closely and be in real conversations.
As a leader, I have the privilege and responsibility to ensure these conversations are happening and regularly examine if the company is doing everything it can to advance our goals for the business and our people. Goal setting—both personal and professional—is in our DNA at lululemon, and one of my greatest joys has been collaborating with our teams to co-create programs and spaces to support our people to discover and articulate their personal purpose, vision, and goals. We believe that investing in the whole person empowers every one of our people to bring their full selves to work.
I know and feel the benefit in my own life. When I joined this company nearly nine years ago as a Director, it excited me that lululemon encouraged us to prioritize wellness in a corporate setting. My commitment to personal development taught me how to put things into perspective and to be a better leader. It also helped me recognize the power of connection in my life—to my breath, to nature, to a close friend or family member. Through connection, I learned that I can be of greater service to others.
I uncovered so much about myself through this work—naturally, so do our people at lululemon. If our intention is to truly enable everyone at lululemon to reach their goals, like becoming a parent and being able to spend meaningful time with their loved ones, we need to provide them with the resources to do so.
In 2018, we achieved 100% gender pay equity as a global organization and have maintained every year since. In 2019, we launched a global gender-neutral parenthood policy providing up to six months of paid parental leave to full-time employees at all levels, from Educator to CEO, following birth or adoption. Today, 60% of our Senior Leadership Team are women, and 50% of our Board of Directors are women.
I celebrate our record and commitment to achieving yearly global pay equity, all of the incredible past, present, and future leaders at lululemon, and acknowledge that we’re not done this journey. We’re committed to updating our gender pay equity figures annually on our website, building pay parity into our annual process, and addressing all findings and closing gaps each year.
Personally, I am committed to staying mindful, connected, and curious. I like to think of this as a start line, not a finish line—the opportunity is endless.