THR Illustration / Disney: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Castle: Disneyland Resort/Christian Thompson; Becker: Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images.
Abigail Disney (left) and Adrienne Becker set up Level Forward as a public benefit corporation, designed to be a for-profit entity, but one that calls for serving the public good.
The company, co-founded with Adrienne Becker to back inclusive projects and promote an equitable workplace, now finds itself reckoning with internal missteps. Says Disney: "We own the ways in which we've messed up."
In early 2018, philanthropist and filmmaker Abigail Disney wanted to found a company to reclaim Hollywood from its most infamous tyrant, Harvey Weinstein. But as Disney's aspirational company, Level Forward, got off the ground, some of its own staff and contractors, particularly women of color, felt disempowered by a top-down culture, according to interviews with 15 current and former employees and business partners.