Promena Launches Industry Inclusion Index (I³) to Set a New Standard for Measuring Inclusion Across Industries
New benchmark uses five years of data from 225 organizations to assess inclusion maturity in 15 industry verticals
Promena, a leadership, research, and insights company dedicated to setting the standard for inclusion and performance, today announced the launch of the Industry Inclusion Index (I³), a first-of-its-kind benchmark that measures inclusion maturity at the industry level rather than focusing solely on individual companies.
Developed by Promena Insights, the firm’s research and analytics division, I³ translates five years of data from the Inclusive Leadership Index™ (ILI) representing more than 1,700 organizations across 38 industries into a structured, evidence-based view of inclusion maturity in 15 industry verticals, each represented by a consistent sample of 15 organizations.
“Leaders are surrounded by dashboards, but they still don’t know how mature their inclusion efforts really are compared to others in their industry,” said Pam McElvane, Founder & CEO of Promena and Creator of the Industry Inclusion Index (I³). “I³ is designed to change that. It gives executives, boards, and policymakers a way to see inclusion as a measurable business capability at the level where norms, regulations, and expectations actually live: the industry.”
A Multi-Domain View of Inclusion Maturity
The Industry Inclusion Index assesses each industry across seven domains that together describe inclusion as a system, not a single metric:
- Strategic Integration of Inclusion
- Talent Access and Workforce Parity
- Workforce and Leadership Representation
- Culture, Belonging and Retention
- Advancement and Career Mobility
- Executive Accountability
- Social Impact and Ecosystem Investment
Each domain is scored using a five-stage maturity rubric—from Aware to Optimized—and mapped onto a 0–100 scale. Scores are aggregated to produce an overall inclusion maturity profile for each industry, highlighting where sectors are stronger, where they lag, and how their maturity is changing over time.
Unlike traditional diversity rankings, I³ is anonymous at the company level. The focus is on industry-level patterns and trajectories, not on publicly naming or shaming individual organizations.
“In today’s environment, firm-level DEI rankings can be polarizing and risky,” McElvane noted. “By moving the lens to the industry level, we can still drive accaountability and learning without forcing organizations into a public spotlight that may limit transparency.”
Why Now: From Program Lists to Systemic Capability
The launch of I³ comes at a time when many organizations are reassessing their DEI commitments amid legal, political, and reputational pressures. Promena’s work shows that most dashboards still emphasize representation and program counts, while under-measuring the systems that actually sustain inclusion over time.
Early findings from I³ reveal several cross-industry patterns, including:
- Inclusion maturity is uneven across sectors. Some industries show more advanced and consistent maturity across multiple domains, while others remain in earlier-stage or highly uneven development.
- Strategy is outpacing accountability. Many sectors have formal DEI strategies and visible commitments, but lag in executive accountability, advancement equity, and outcome-focused governance.
- A small set of “accelerators” drive outsized impact. Practices such as rigorous promotion and pay equity analysis, structured sponsorship for underrepresented talent, and integrating inclusion into leadership performance management appear to move multiple domains at once.
“We’re seeing that having a strategy isn’t enough,” said McElvane. “Industries that move fastest are the ones that build real accountability, connect inclusion to advancement and mobility, and treat inclusion data with the same seriousness they give financial or operational metrics.”
Academic Rigor Meets Executive Relevance
To ensure rigor and credibility, Promena has structured the development of I³ as both an academic and practitioner contribution:
- A peer-reviewed research paper, “Benchmarking Inclusion Across Industries: Development and Validation of the Industry Inclusion Index (I³),” is prepared for submission and publication with the Michigan Academy.
- A companion, executive-facing article, “The New Way to Benchmark Inclusion Across Industries: Insights from the Industry Inclusion Index (I³),” will appear in DBR Scholastic – A Promena Media Journal, providing practical guidance for CEOs, CHROs, and Functional leaders.
Together, these publications position I³ as a validated, multi-domain measurement framework that is both academically grounded and directly usable in boardrooms and C-suites.
How Organizations and Industries Can Engage
Promena and Promena Insights will offer:
- Industry briefings for sector associations, regulatory bodies, and leadership coalitions
- Executive workshops to help leadership teams interpret I³ profiles and identify high impact “accelerators”
- Custom benchmarking for organizations that wish to understand how their internal maturity compares to industry trends
“Our goal is not to hand out trophies,” McElvane emphasized. “Our goal is to set the standard so industries and organizations can move from intent to maturity, and from maturity to real, measurable impact.”
About Promena (A P&L Group Brand)
Promena.Set the Standard (previously Diversity MBA) is a media, leadership, learning, research, and insights company dedicated to setting the standard for inclusion, equity, and performance. Through data-driven benchmarks, executive education, and thought leadership, Promena helps organizations turn inclusion from aspiration into a measurable business capability.
About Promena Insights
Promena Insights is the research and analytics division of Promena. It develops proprietary indices, benchmarks, and frameworks—including the Inclusive Leadership Index™ (ILI) and the Industry Inclusion Index (I³)—to measure inclusion maturity and guide evidence-based strategy for organizations and industries.
Learn more about the importance of workplace inclusion in this article on The Narrative Matters.
Pam McElvane, CEO, Author & Publisher, Promena Media
CEO | Master Coach | Board Governance Expert | Data Scientist | Strategist | Publisher
Pamela McElvane, MBA, MA, MCPC, is the CEO and founder of P&L Group, Ltd which has 3 key brands: Promena, 3I Research Institute & Diversity Learning Solutions, headquartered in Chicago, IL. Ms. McElvane has spent more than 25 years working with large and midsize companies providing insights and best practices, leadership and executive coaching, strategy, and organizational management.
Contact for public speaking, coaching and leadership training opportunities:
833-362-2100 ext. 700 (Main)
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