Diversity & Inclusion at Papa John's - Our Commitment to Cultural Change | Papa Johns
  • EVERYONE BELONGS
  • We want your voice –
    and your flavor! – at our table.

  • Diversity is our strength and competitive advantage. We’re all about creating an inclusive culture that reflects the expansive nature of our brand and encourages team members from all backgrounds and experiences to be the best they can be.

    Papa John’s is continuing to advance its company-wide Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) strategy, supporting the company’s top strategic priority to build a culture of leaders who believe in diversity, inclusivity and winning. While our commitment to DEI did not begin with the fight for racial justice witnessed across the United States in 2020, these events reinforced our commitment to create a culture in our company where everyone feels they belong.

    • Papa John’s
    • DEI Strategic Objectives
    • Diversify our workforce and leadership pipeline by attracting, recruiting, developing and supporting talent who represent our customers and communities.
    • Embed policies and practices that ensure fairness, build trust and hold us accountable.
    • Instill and reward behaviors across the organization that foster belonging and increase employee engagement.
    • We believe in the power of bringing people together and inviting everyone to the table, where each person’s unique flavor is respected, embraced, and valued.

    - Marvin Boakye, Chief People & Diversity Officer

Recent Progress and Highlights

  • Achieved 100 percent employee completion of unconscious bias training and made training available to franchise owners for use with their team members.
  • Expanded team member benefits to same-sex partners, leading to our score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index, the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. Papa John’s is the only pizza company to earn a score of 100 and one of only 42 companies in the food, beverage and grocery category to earn top marks this year.
  • Launched two new ERGs representing Asian-American Pacific Islanders and differently abled people living with disabilities.
  • Papa John’s CEO took the Action For Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which aims to rally the business community to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace. The CEO pledge outlines a specific set of actions signatory CEOs will take to cultivate a trusting environment where all ideas are welcomed and employees feel comfortable and empowered to have discussions about diversity and inclusion.

  • Consistent with Papa John’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s (DEI) vision to allow our diversity to be our strength and competitive advantage, the purpose behind our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) is to encourage and empower our team members to grow and evolve. ERGs are groups of team members who come together to support common characteristics, goals and interests that are aligned with Papa John’s values, business goals and DEI strategy. They promote inclusion, open dialogue, learning and constructive contributions to Papa John’s business objectives. All are welcome to attend and participate in the ERGs – allies are essential to ensuring a more inclusive culture that embraces diversity. Papa John’s ERGs exemplify our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

    • Employee
    • Resource Groups
    • Abilities ERG
    • African-American ERG
    • Asian-Pacific Islander ERG
    • Etnicidad Latino-Hispanic ERG
    • Lean In (Women’s) ERG
    • LEAP (LGBTQ+ FOR Equality, Advocacy and Promotion) ERG
    • MAP (Merging All Professionals) multi-generational ERG
    • V.E.T.S. (Value, Empowerment, Talent, Service) ERG

Partnerships and Sponsorships

“Our company is defined by being better – this extends across every aspect of our business, including being better corporate citizens, better stewards of the environment and creating a better place to work.” - Jenn Garner, Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability.

We are honored to serve our communities through strategic partnerships and sponsorships, including:

    • American Pizza Community
    • American Red Cross
    • ASCEND
    • Boys & Girls Clubs of America
    • CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion
    • Cobb Chamber of Commerce
    • Disability:IN
    • Food and Beverage Industry Group (FBIG)
    • Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council
    • GLI Business Council to End Racism
    • Goodr
    • Greater Louisville Inc.
    • Greater Women’s Business Council
    • Hands On Atlanta
    • Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR)
    • Home of the Innocents
    • Hosea Helps
    • Human Rights Campaign
    • International Franchise Association
    • Louisville Juneteenth Commission
    • Louisville Sustainability Council
    • Metro Atlanta Chamber
    • NAACP
    • National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
    • National Restaurant Association
    • National Retail Federation
    • National Urban League
    • OUT Georgia Business Alliance
    • Pound the Pavement for Peter
    • Prospanica
    • The Shaquille O’Neal Foundation
    • Transformation Journeys
    • Tri-State Minority Supplier Development Council (TSMSDC)
    • United Negro College Fund
    • United Way Metro Louisville and Greater Atlanta
    • Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
    • World Central Kitchen
    • Supplier
    • Diversity

  • Embracing a diverse supply chain maximizes Papa John’s value proposition. We know that having a robust diverse supplier base will create unmatched solutions and opportunities in our industry that can’t be replicated. Supplier Diversity will become intrinsic in our supply chain and sourcing processes. Key areas of development of the supplier diversity initiative are collaboration, spend management, systems and tools, inclusion and mentoring and communication.

    If you are a diverse supplier and would like to register as a potential vendor with Papa John’s, please visit our new supplier registration platform:

    Papa John’s Supplier Diversity Registration