Our Business

In 2023, 3M advanced its commitment to environmental justice (EJ). A key component of EJ is engaging with local communities and other stakeholders. The EJ team focused on increasing community connections through listening sessions in targeted locations where we have manufacturing facilities. Capturing local perspectives deepened our understanding of the issues and hopes within communities as 3M expands its engagement where we live and work. Those local insights informed the development of 3M's environmental justice principles, which will be embedded in 3M's business practices.

Providing environmental grants also furthered our progress in 2023. 3M supported NGOs that are focused on accelerating positive change in communities. Grant recipients like Forum for the Future's Amercan Climate Future initiative and the World Resources Institute contribute to community impact by working, collaborating, and convening across sectors, both locally and globally.

In Q4 of 2023, 3M hosted the first ever corporate-led Environmental Justice (EJ) Summit at our Innovation Center in Minnesota. With the theme "Connecting Perspectives for Greater Impact," the summit brought together diverse viewpoints and best practices from over 30 organizations across various sectors, including government, academia, NGOs, community groups, and corporations. Summit attendees shared the ambition to further propel our environmental justice journeys and accelerate collective impact in communities. Throughout the summit, experts challenged definitions of EJ, refined our approach to community and justice, and emphasized the importance of incorporating community voices into the decision-making process. Corporate attendees also highlighted the importance of recognizing that there is no single approach to environmental justice and that all advances are significant. 

2023 served as a foundational year for 3M's environmental justice journey, and in 2024 we will focus on achieving outcomes to meet the expectations of communities, employees, and shareholders. 

Our progress continues to be recognized - for the second year in a row - as a leading Minnesota-based company on the Racial Equity Divendends Index. 

The Center for Economic Inclusion's Racial Equity Dividends Index is the region's first comprehensive tool designed to support businesses in identifying and monitoring their actions for anti-racism and measure progress toward building inclusive workplaces.

Twenty-two companies participated in the 2023 Index, taking the opportunity to evaluate their existing practices against 43 racially equitable standards across seven dimensions, compare their progress to peers, and consider the next staps in their journey. Collectively, these companies employed more than 95,000 full-time, part-time, and contingent workers in Minnesota, and more than 414,000 workers globally.

The seven dimensions are: Leadership; Hiring; Culture, retention & advancement; Procurement; Products & services; Philanthropy and investment; Public Policy. 

3M was recognized as a high-scoring business in 4 of the dimensions: Leadership; Culture, retention & advancement; Procurement; Philanthropy & investment. This was a recognition that 3M implements at least two-thirds (67%) of the racial equity standards in each category. 

“We are proud of the sustained progress we have made and are always on the journey to do better," Garfield Bowen, 3M Social and Environmental Justice vice president, said. “We have a responsibility to leverage our full capabilities to advance equity for our employees and those in communities where we operate around the world."

In 2021, 3M announced new equity-related commitments within each of our four business groups (BGs) to drive greater equity in our communities:

• Transportation & Electronics Business Group (TEBG) to support urban mobility and transportation safety
• Consumer Business Group (CBG) to increase access to homeownership
• Health Care Business Group (HCBG) to address health care equity
• Safety & Industrial Business Group (SIBG) to promote diverse representation within the skilled trades

2023 saw steady progress from each of our business groups, including these highlights:

Transportation & Electronics Business Group
In October of 2022, TEBG and 3Mgives, in partnership with the Providence Streets Coalition, Thriving Places Collaborative, Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition, SPIN Streets and AARP, worked to install the Hope Street Temporary Trail. The project was a community-led effort that consolidated parking to the west side of Hope Street in Providence and created a one-mile trail for walking, jogging, rolling and biking. In addition to providing grant funding and volunteerism to this project, 3M also donated the temporary pavement markings used for the install.  

The project specifically aimed to serve the multicultural community in the Mount Hope neighborhood, which is the most culturally and racially diverse neighborhood on the East Side of Providence.

In 2023, we continued our work with the Providence Street Coalition with a $25,000 grant to further their efforts to make transportation safer, more accessible and more equitable for all members of the community.

Consumer Business Group
The 3M Open golf tournament brings our community together to give back and improve lives. As part of their business group equity commitment, CBG raised awareness of the homeownership gap and racial inequities in housing in the Twin Cities through the immersive experience: Unlocking the Power of Home.

In partnership with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, CBG redesigned a shipping container into a home that told the impactful story of the Copelands, a Minneapolis family whose home was rehabbed by the organization. Attendees could also learn about our 3M/Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity partnership, share what “the power of home” means to them and scan QR codes to donate to, volunteer with and advocate for Habitat for Humanity. CBG also sponsored two equity grants in 2023, giving $20,000 to Atlanta Habitat for Humanity and $5,000 to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.

In 2023 alone, 143 3M volunteers participated in five CBG-led events in the Twin Cities for a total of 572 hours of service. 3M CEO, Mike Roman, also served as co-chair to the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity CEO Build in October.

Health Care Business Group
Each of the BG teams leverage the “four Ps” – product, people, philanthropy and partnership – to drive meaningful change in the communities we serve. Starting in 2021, HCBG tapped into the passion of its employees to build upon the existing 3M Impact offering, the global skills-based service program that empowers 3Mers to make an impact in their community. The 3M Impact Health Care program enabled employees to partner with and lend business expertise to community-based organizations specifically focused on addressing health care disparities and social drivers of health, increasing access to care.

In the two years since the program was launched, nearly 70 HCBG employees have participated in the 3M Impact Health Care program, serving 24 health care community-based organizations globally.

Safety & Industrial Business Group
3M is committed to diversifying the pipeline of talent in the skilled trades. In partnership with NC3, the National Coalition of Certification Centers, 3M again awarded 50 $1,000 scholarships in 2023 to diverse students pursuing skilled trades during the National Signing Day event. These scholarships help enable current high school students who are enrolled in or intend to enroll in a technical education program in the fall. The 50 Scholarship recipients planned to attend 22 technical schools and community colleges spanning 14 different states, and more than 90% identified as women and/or members of a racial/ethnic minority group.

In addition to scholarships, 3M is broadly committed to increasing awareness of the huge variety of roles available within the skilled trades. View the documentary film, 'Skilled', to learn more about how different people found their way into the trades and built fulfilling careers. In addition, we created the 3M Skilled Trades website at 3M.com/skilledtrades to share information on key industrial skilled trades, stories about young people who have entered these fields, and opportunities available in skilled trades.

At its core, 3M's Supplier Diversity Program is designed to create opportunities for diverse businesses, including minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, LGBTQ+-owned, disabled-owned, and small businesses. In 2024, we continue our U.S.-focused supplier diversity efforts to provide greater opportunities for diverse business enterprises. To take our program to the next level, we’re increasing the identification of diverse suppliers by enhancing data management, expanding our relationships with local advocacy groups, and globalizing our supplier diversity strategy. 3M completed 2023 with 6% of the company’s total U.S. eligible spend classified as diverse, progressing toward its goal of doubling diverse spend by 2030.

To ensure the success of diverse suppliers, 3M provides various resources and support programs. This includes our GAME Changer program, designed to build the capabilities and capacity of diverse suppliers through Growth, Advocacy, Mentoring and Education (GAME). In 2023, 3M’s GAME Changer program expanded its cohort from four suppliers in 2023 to eleven suppliers in 2024; seven of those suppliers were new to 3M and looking to develop a business relationship with the company. By offering guidance and assistance, 3M helps diverse suppliers enhance their capabilities, improve their competitiveness, and grow their businesses. This commitment to supplier development goes beyond 3M’s conscious decisions around purchasing from diverse organizations to true community impact achieved by fostering long-term partnerships and mutual growth.

3M's Supplier Diversity Program stands as a testament to the company's commitment to inclusion, innovation, and economic growth. By actively engaging with diverse suppliers, providing support and resources, and increasing spend, 3M is not only driving positive change within its supply chain but also contributing to the broader goal of creating a more inclusive and equitable business environment.

Our Social Justice team supports our New Product Introduction (NPI) teams in creating products with equity in mind. Through our Sustainable Value Commitment, our NPI process applies an equity lens to the innovation process, solution function and/or design.

We look forward to creating new 3M products that serve and improve outcomes for historically underrepresented groups, including using inclusive design to create products for every ability.

3M products already using equitable design include the weighted Post-it Note and Scotch tape dispensers dispensers that enable single-handed use through a clip or weighted base. Any user could find greater convenience in these items - and they may be particularly appreciated by a person with a mobility or physical disability.

We continued our engagement efforts for governmental advocacy in 2023. 3M sponsored the California Legislative Black Caucus Policy Institute’s scholarship program which provides college resources to aid the next generation of black leaders. 150 deserving students received the Frederick M. Roberts College Scholarships.

3M’s engagement with the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity strengthened through policy advocacy. We supported the CROWN Act, which was signed into law by the Minnesota Governor in February 2023.