Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

At Target, our team rallies around a single purpose: to help all families discover the joy of everyday life. That purpose and our inclusion of “all” directly connects to our inclusivity value as a company. We leverage our purpose to champion a more inclusive society that provides a fulfilling place to work and enhances engagement with our guests, communities and suppliers.

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An illustrated cityscape and a diverse group of people interacting and shopping at Target.

Our leadership

A group photo of Brian Cornell and 14 team members smiling in a store aisle.

CEO Brian Cornell (pictured third from the right) with a group of team members at a store on Black Friday.

A group photo of Kiera Fernandez and 10 colleagues in red and khaki apparel at an event.

Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Kiera Fernandez (pictured top row, right) with her teammates at an event.

Our history

Target has a longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I).

Diversity, equity and inclusion are part of our core values, shape our culture and drive our business, and we’ve been on a journey for more than 16 years to build and refine our DE&I strategy. Read more in our history timeline

Milestones of our journey

  • 2003-2009: Foster an Inclusive Culture
    • Target establishes its first Diversity Steering Committee, which becomes the Office of Diversity & Inclusion (D&I).
    • Diversity and inclusion are defined and integrated into company strategy and beliefs.
  • 2009-2013: Strength of Many, Power of One
    • Office of D&I operationalizes diversity action committees (DACs), employee resource groups (ERGs), diversity analytics team, and workplace and marketplace initiatives.
  • 2013-2015: All Together
    • Office of D&I is located within corporate social responsibility team.
    • Target invests in external stakeholder engagement initiatives.
  • 2015-present: Champion an Inclusive Society
    • Office of D&I transitions to the human resources team.
    • D&I strategy is revamped to align with revision of company purpose.
    • Target launches and completes first three-year cycle of enterprise goals.

Our strategy 

Across Target, we embrace diversity and strive to give everyone access to the same opportunities. Our DE&I strategy focuses on four areas: creating an inclusive guest experience, having an inclusive work environment, ensuring we have a diverse workforce and leveraging our influence to drive positive impact on society.
 

Guest experience

We want to create environments where all guests feel welcome and see themselves represented throughout their experience with Target, including our marketing and with the products we sell in our stores and online.

Work environment

Target aims to create a workplace where team members feel welcome, where they can build meaningful careers and have success at every level. Everyone in our Target community takes accountability to ensure an inclusive work environment. 

Workforce diversity

We're focused on building a diverse workforce supported by hiring, development and advancement regardless of team members' dimensions of difference.

Societal impact

We focus on championing an inclusive society to help communities thrive, including directing philanthropic spending to communities of color to advance racial equity.

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150+

DE&I council members dedicated to helping manage Target’s DE&I ecosystem

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#3

Ranking in diversity data disclosure (Measure Up rank of Fortune 500)

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300k

Team members trained on unconscious bias by 2021

Meet our Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Kiera Fernandez

A head-and-shoulders photo of Kiera Fernandez against a red background.

Kiera Fernandez serves as the senior vice president, talent and change, and chief diversity & inclusion officer. Kiera is responsible for leading and advancing Target’s enterprise-wide DE&I strategy as well as leading our talent and change team and strategy. In addition to her human resources (HR) expertise, Kiera has an extensive background in retail operations, process and project management, store operations and team leadership.  

Kiera began her career at Target in 2001, as an executive team leader for stores, subsequently serving in a variety of leadership roles. Since that time, Kiera has led teams in merchandising, stores, operations and HR. Over the last several years, she has continued to build a career across multiple HR functions. She is a founding member of Target’s Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) committee, which is tasked with urgently advancing our DE&I work for Black team members, guests and communities. 

Kiera is a dedicated diversity advocate who sparks, inspires and challenges the lens in which we view and practice diversity, so we can all grow the circle together with shared accountability and responsibility. 

Related articles

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"Now more than ever, people expect institutions and companies to play a role in creating a more inclusive and equitable society for everyone, and the influence Target can have on the U.S. and our culture is significant. We are committed to creating equity, and ensuring our intentions have a meaningful impact for our teams, guests and communities."

KIERA FERNANDEZ
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, TALENT AND CHANGE, AND CHIEF DIVERSITY & INCLUSION OFFICER

Suppliers and DE&I

Our guests place their trust in us, and we honor that trust through our commitment to doing business ethically and legally. Since the actions of our suppliers and business partners reflect directly on Target, we expect our partners to uphold the highest standards of conduct and to be aligned with Target’s values. Our ethical and legal expectations for suppliers are outlined in Target’s Business Partner Code of Conduct, which includes equity and inclusion standards.

 

Download the
Code of Conduct
 

Goals & progress

We set our goals on three-year timeframes, which provides enough time to make meaningful progress as an organization. Learn more about our 2022-2024 goals and the progress we delivered on our 2019-2021 goals on our Team Members & Guests page.

 

2022-2024 DE&I goals

Equal employment opportunity

Target is an equal opportunity employer that prohibits discrimination, and will make decisions regarding employment opportunities, including hiring, promotion and advancement, without regard to the following characteristics: race, color, national origin, religious beliefs, sex (including pregnancy), age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, military status, marital status, genetic information, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local fair employment practice laws.