EA Announces Donations, Volunteer Programs For Racial Justice

In light of ongoing protests for racial justice across America, several game companies have issued statements of support or announced donations. EA has now announced some broad steps of its own, including both monetary donations and several internal initiatives.

In a message from CEO Andrew Wilson, the company announced a $1 million donation to organizations including the Equal Justice Initiative and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, along with others to be announced. On top of that, the company is double-matching employee contributions to those organizations and any local charities through the end of June.

The company is also launching a set of volunteering initiatives to get employees involved in community action. Each employee will get a paid day of volunteer work, which Wilson says will total 75,000 hours across all of its employees around the world. It will be encouraging employees to use that paid time for racial justice work by sharing a list of appropriate volunteer activities that can be performed from home to abide by social distancing guidelines due to the coronavirus.

Finally, the company has set two upcoming calendar dates aside for special events. On June 9 the company will host a "Community Conversation" to address thoughts and questions on racial bias and discrimination. Then on June 19 the company will celebrate Juneteenth with a day of company-wide volunteering and participating in forums hosted by the Black Electronic Arts Team ERG.

Earlier in the week, EA delayed a reveal for Madden 21 that had been planned for this week. This was one of several delays of similar industry events, including the PS5 reveal.

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