Anita Battle, diversity, inclusion & belonging senior manager, Equity Programs, at Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), participated in a video interview during Nareit’s REITworld: 2023 Annual Conference held Nov. 14-16 in Los Angeles. Equinix was Nareit’s 2023 DEI Recognition Silver Award winner.
Battle said that Equinix’s ESG strategy starts at the top with its senior leadership.
“When you have that leadership right at the top trying to create a culture, then everyone leans into it,” she said.
Turning to Equinix’s ESG strategy 2024, Battle said she’s looking ahead toward “closing the digital divide,” with about 3 billion people worldwide not connected to the internet.
“You cannot function fully and authentically without having that access,” she said. “That is where we have leaned into and created partnerships through our foundation…to continue the progress that we’re doing and moving forward in terms of ESG.”
Battle added that in order to move the needle on ESG going forward, the REIT industry overall needs to understand that it is not a journey that will end, but rather a process that will evolve over time.