Increasing Authentic Representation

Authentic disability representation on and off the camera is a priority for NBCUniversal. We strive to bring these stories and voices to light. To do this, we partner with external organizations who are leaders in authentic disability representation.

Ruderman Family Foundation

We joined the Ruderman Family Foundation’s commitment to audition actors with disabilities with each new studio production.

1in4 Coalition

We partner with 1in4 Coalition to increase access, employment, and authentic representation of disabled people on and off the camera.

Easterseals Disability Film Challenge

Our work with Easterseals advances inclusion, and access to employment for young adults with disabilities participating in Easterseals Youth Transition Programs in select markets across the country. 

Making Space

NBC Sports and Making Space are working together to increase employment opportunities for disabled talent.

Exceptional Minds

Our film studios work with Exceptional Minds to help advance their mission to prepare young adults on the autism spectrum for careers in animation, visual effects, 3D gaming, and other related fields in the entertainment industry.

Lights! Camera! Access!

Lights Camera Access is a career exploration and incubator program that empowers media professionals, filmmakers and storytellers with disabilities to launch their careers.

Peacock’s Celebrating Disability On Screen

Peacock’s featured collection, Celebrating Disability On Screen highlights films and TV shows with authentic disability representation.

Watch it now >>

Spurring the Development of More Accessible Content and Experiences

We aim to create content and experiences that are more inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities.

We are continually increasing how much of our content offers live audio description for blind and visually impaired viewers, including the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Special and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Special

We strive to maximize how content offers traditional accessibility capabilities like closed captioning, audio and video description, and large text capabilities.

At Universal Destinations & Experiences, attractions include sensory-friendly shows, closed captioning options, and Braille menus. Nearly 70% of the attractions and rides at Universal Orlando Resort, including Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, have been designed to enable guests to either remain in their own wheelchair or seamlessly transfer into a modified ride vehicle. 

Fostering a Culture of Inclusion that Represents and Supports People of All Abilities

At NBCUniversal, we work every day to create and foster a culture of inclusion across our company that represents and supports people of all abilities.

NBCUniversal’s Creative Impact Lab is a signature and award-winning initiative of NBCUnites, the company’s corporate social impact brand. The Creative Impact Lab harnesses NBCUniversal’s storytelling expertise to give back in the communities where we live and work. We do this by providing grants to nonprofit creative agencies that employ young creatives to develop much-needed marketing assets for nonprofit partners, helping them tell their story. Final assets created in the Lab are featured across the networks and platforms of NBCUniversal and Comcast, providing nonprofit clients with powerful exposure. 

All year round, we empower our employees to contribute to the causes and nonprofits they love through our Matching Gift program—which has already matched employee donations to 2,700 organizations. Throughout the year, employees can partake in volunteer experiences and projects facilitated by NBCUnites, including during Season of Service and Volunteer Month. Over the past five years, our company has engaged over 30,000 employee volunteers.

NBCUniversal Local Impact Grants 

To make a meaningful impact in our local communities and address their unique needs, NBCUniversal and the NBC and Telemundo owned stations launched NBCU Local Impact Grants which provides $2.5M in grants annually to more than 80+ organizations. 

Season of Service

Our annual holiday volunteering initiative allows employees to give back to their communities. From kit packing to mentoring, employees celebrate the holidays through volunteerism. 

Volunteer Month

During April, employees are empowered to volunteer in honor of Volunteer Month. Employees can create their own volunteer events for their team as well as participate in events hosted by NBCUnites. Internationally, employees participate in NBCUnites Cares Day, making an impact in communities across the globe. 

Employee Mentorship

Career Inspiration Camp

A two-day career camp in which students learn what a career in media and entertainment could look like. Students participate in informational interviews, interpreting job descriptions and vision boarding for the future. Employee mentors connect with students and mentor them throughout their two-day experience.  

Creative Connections

Creative Connections is an opportunity for early career and emerging talent from partner organizations to network with NBCUniversal Creatives, learn from executives, and gain advice for their career journeys.

Pro Bono Programs

Throughout the year, NBCU employees have opportunities to provide skills-based consulting services to nonprofit organizations. Employees specializing in legal, marketing, communications, human resources and project management provide insights and advice to community partners in programs ranging from one day to four weeks. 

Taproot

In this unique consulting event, teams of NBCUniversal employees help solve real challenges from NBCUnites company partners based in NY, NJ and CT. Employees are matched with a nonprofit challenge based on their areas of expertise. Participants develop transferable skills, make new connections, and provide real support to a local nonprofit. 

America on Tech Fellowships

Comcast NBCUniversal hosts two eight-week Fellowship programs focused on Cybersecurity and Data Science for America On Tech alumni and college students currently majoring or interested in exploring a career in technology. The fellowships provide professional development skills through hands-on experience and facilitate valuable relationships with mentors.

Monthly Volunteer Events

Each month, NBCUnites offers a volunteer event for employees to participate in, including both in-person and virtual opportunities employees can do with their teams or individually.

Sustainable Storytelling 

NBCUniversal uses the reach of our programming and personalities to spotlight pressing environmental issues facing our world. Through TODAY Climate, Al Roker takes a deep dive into climate changes, extremes, strategies, and solutions. The Telemundo Station Group provides informative climate reporting to Spanish-speaking communities across the nation with campaigns like "Nuestro Planeta". Our journalists also share the impact of a warming world on athletes and how sports teams, leagues, and events are doing their part for the planet, including our 2024 Paris Olympics coverage.

NBCUniversal participates annually in the Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards – an annual celebration of sustainable production and environmental storytelling in the media.  Past NBCUniversal winners and nominees recognized for their portrayal of environmental issues and climate solutions include: Jurassic World: Dominion, The End is Nye (episode 2 “The Volcano Paradox”), Poker Face (episode 3 “The Stall”) and the MSNBC documentary From Devil’s Breath.

Launched in 2023, the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group’s GreenerLight Program aims to institutionalize sustainability across the filmmaking process, from script to screen. For Universal Pictures, Focus Features, and DreamWorks Animation titles, the studio has committed to building a sustainability plan that considers ways to embed positive climate actions from the very beginning of the creative process. This includes script development, locations and set needs, production, on-screen behaviors, and marketing and distribution, as well as exploring potential collaborations with environmental organizations.

Industry Wide Efforts 

NBCUniversal supports initiatives that amplify up and coming climate storytellers. We host screenwriters on the Universal Studios Lot for the Writing Climate: Pitchfest for Film and TV, created by The Hollywood Climate Summit, which celebrates the best unproduced climate-themed scripts in film and television by connecting writers with Hollywood executives, producers, agents, and managers in curated one-on-one meetings.

We also participate in several industry consortiums focused on standardizing sustainable practices in the media and entertainment industry including: Sustainable Entertainment Alliance, Albert, Creative BC’s Reel Green, and Sustainable Screens Australia. Our engagement allows us to further collective action in decarbonizing the entertainment industry and using our voice to inspire a more sustainable world, including key stakeholder conversations at COP28.

Employee Engagement

For Earth Month, our sustainability team hosts unique workshops and events to educate our colleagues on our changing climate and inspire them to make sustainable choices at work and in their personal lives. In addition, Telemundo and NBCUniversal Local news stations publish climate-related content on their platforms for audiences around the world to experience.

 GREEN@NBCUniversal is an employee-led affinity group at our largest office locations that meet quarterly to host events and activities that raise awareness and connect employees with their local environment and community.

Waste Reduction Programs

In an effort to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, several of our facilities have implemented efforts such as recycling, composting, promoting a culture of re-use, and eliminating single-use plastics. A combination of these efforts across Universal Studios Hollywood, the Universal Studio Lot, and DreamWorks Animation have resulted in over 75% of waste diverted from landfill. 

Donating excess food can help provide meals to those in need and prevents food waste from producing methane in landfills. To minimize our food waste, the NBCUniversal Sustainable Production Program has donated over 125,000 meals to hunger relief charities. In addition, employee commissaries at the Universal Studio Lot and DreamWorks, along with food establishments within the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park and CityWalk, donate excess food regularly.

Reducing the amount of waste generated is the first step in our waste management strategy, including working to replace single-use items with reusable alternatives. Universal Orlando Resorts and Universal Studios Hollywood both increased guest-facing reusables to avoid single-use serving items like plates and utensils, enhancing guest experience and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.

Water Conservation

We are working to better measure our water usage across key facilities in order to implement better management and locate reduction opportunities.

As we continue to grow our business, we are designing our facilities with conservation in mind. New construction at Universal City Studios in California was designed with low-flow water fixtures estimated to reduce indoor water usage by 46%. In addition, low-impact development strategies were implemented to reduce water runoff from the site.

To conserve freshwater resources, our largest properties at Universal Orlando Resorts, Universal City Studios, and Universal Studios Hollywood utilize recycled water when available for landscape irrigation in conjunction with irrigation control systems to adjust watering schedules based on weather data and ground moisture. 

The Universal Studios Lot uses stormwater treatment devices across the property to filter runoff water before returning to the LA River. The studio is also piloting a project to capture urban runoff and filter it for reuse for onsite irrigation, saving an additional 2 million gallons per year.

Production Set Reuse & Donations

NBCUniversal has managed large-scale set reuse programs for decades, including our asset centers in LA, New York, and Miami with 384,000 square feet of set materials that are repurposed from show to show at no cost to the production. When filming outside those hubs, NBCUniversal film and TV productions donate materials to the local community, including nonprofit organizations, local schools, theaters, and more. 

We also find creative ways to give sets a longer life. The original Jupiter’s Claim set from Jordan Peele’s, Nope, was repurposed to a new attraction on the world-famous Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood.