The State Of Responsibility 2026 | Must Read questions, as something far more rigorous and harder to earn, which flattens a distinction that matters a lot to us and, increasingly, to the brands and end users asking these questions,” Jackson says. “That’s the thinking behind why we pursued bluesign specifically. It’s widely regarded as the toughest chemical-safety and environmental standard in textiles, tightly regulated and verified across the full supply chain rather than at a single factory snapshot, so it can’t be claimed loosely the way a broader compliance box can.” Whereas the overwhelming majority of suppliers aren’t certified minority-owned businesses, more than a quarter of distributors are, according to the data. TABLE 12: Are you a certified minority-owned business? Yes No Other Suppliers $100M+ 15% 85% 0% Suppliers $25M-$100M 9% 88% 3% Suppliers $10M-$25M 22% 70% 9% Suppliers $3M-$10M 10% 86% 5% Suppliers Under $3M 17% 83% 0% TABLE 13: What percentage of leadership (director level or higher) at your company is made of up women or nonbinary people? % of Women or non-binary people Suppliers $100M+ 42% Suppliers $25M-$100M 42% Suppliers $10M-$25M 37% Suppliers $3M-$10M 50% Suppliers Under $3M 66% TABLE 14: What percentage of leadership (director level or higher) at your company is made up of people of color (nonwhite)? % of people of color (nonwhite) Suppliers $100M+ 37% Suppliers $25M-$100M 26% Suppliers $10M-$25M 51% Suppliers $3M-$10M 32% Suppliers Under $3M 0% TABLE 15: % of leadership in LGBTQ community % of leadership in LGBTQ community Suppliers $25M+ 7% Suppliers $10M-$25M 10% Suppliers Under $10M 23% TABLE 16: What percentage of your company’s nonwarehouse or non-factory workforce is under age 30? % of workforce under age 30 Suppliers $100M+ 16% Suppliers $25M-$100M 21% Suppliers $10M-$25M 24% Suppliers $3M-$10M 24% Suppliers Under $3M 35% • OCTOBER 2026 • 33
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