ABOUT US | ESG
Corporate
Responsibility
HOW WE GOVERN
Our Business
Since its formation in 2015 as the first U.S. real estate investment trust focused on acquiring and leasing communications distribution systems, Uniti has grown substantially. Over the past several years the company has hired hundreds of employees, engaged in numerous transactions and currently owns millions of strand miles of fiber, hundreds of communications towers and other communications assets throughout the U.S. Since its inception, our company’s reputation for integrity, responsibility and transparency has been the cornerstone of our operations.
Since its inception, our company’s reputation for integrity, responsibility, and transparency has been the cornerstone of our operations.
Building a Strong Corporate Foundation
Uniti’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics & Whistleblower Policy, and Bylaws, along with other key policies such as its Data Protection Policy and Anti-Bribery, Anti-Corruption Policy, ensures that every employee, officer and director contribute to the care and preservation of Uniti’s reputation. These policies provide guidance to enable and encourage the anonymous reporting of any conduct that appears to raise legal or ethical concerns and establish procedures for the investigation and handling of such reports. They also set standards for employees, officers and directors over a wide range of business practices, including maintaining the integrity of Uniti’s books and records, establishing fair employment requirements, avoiding conflicts of interest, promoting health and safety practices, protecting property rights, giving and receiving of gifts and entertainment, safeguarding customer data and privacy, ensuring fair competition and dealing practices and a host of other matters.
Our Insider Trading Policy is aimed at preventing improper conduct by our employees, officers and directors, and outlines Uniti’s philosophy of avoiding even the appearance of improper activities. It also promotes promptness in the public reporting of transactions in Uniti’s securities by certain employees and all directors.
Our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide Uniti Group Inc.’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) with structures, policies and processes to ensure that Uniti’s unique business operations are overseen with effective supervision and direction. This document also outlines the Board’s duties and responsibilities, establishes the Board’s Audit, Compensation and Governance Committees, provides processes for the running of Board meetings, ensures the Board maintains independent access to management as well as independent advisors, ensures that a majority of the Board remains independent, creates a means for annual evaluation of the company’s officers, and ensures the Board’s oversight over key business risks.
Uniti’s Investors website provides a calendar of financial reporting events, press releases, investor presentations, SEC financial disclosures and a host of other information. Our Social Media Disclosure outlines Uniti’s commitment to keep the public apprised of important business operations and financial updates. We encourage investors, the media and others interested in Uniti to review the information posted on social media channels in addition to following press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts.
Uniti’s Statement of Environmental, Social and Governance Policy outlines our commitment to integrate sustainable and responsible practices impacting environmental, social and governance issues, in its general business strategies and long-term goals. These measures are discussed in more depth on the other portions of Uniti’s website.
While Uniti has made significant investments to establish policies aimed at promoting effective corporate governance and transparency, the work is never done. We continue to evaluate additional processes aimed at promoting effective governance of the business and disclosure to the public, and will update this page with additional information as it becomes available.
HOW WE SUPPORT
Our Employees
Uniti pledges to honor our employees and improve their experience with our company at every available opportunity. This begins in the hiring process. Uniti is dedicated to equal employment hiring practices and strives to attract and maintain a diverse workforce.
Valuing Well-being, Health and Safety
Uniti is committed to ensuring that all of our workplaces are safe for our employees and free of discrimination and harassment in all forms. Whether sitting at a desk in Arkansas or laying fiber in Alabama, Uniti’s comprehensive set of health and safety programs, as well as our workplace security plans, demonstrate dedication to the well-being of our employees.
Uniti’s dedication to workplace safety and other employment related issues has earned us Great Place to Work certifications seven years in a row (2018-2024). Our future includes striving for new policies, trainings and commitments, which will continue to support our employees, and efforts to remain a leader in our industry for employee engagement and satisfaction.
HOW WE SUPPORT
Local Communities
At Uniti, we believe everyone deserves to connect – regardless of location or socioeconomic status.
While Uniti helps local communities benefit economically, Uniti in the Community strives to give back to help those same communities build a brighter tomorrow.
Building and strengthening communities
Uniti in the Community is our people-focused, corporate philanthropic program, designed to give back to the communities we call “home”. We do this in part by introducing our employees to specific organizations and providing opportunities for them to get involved locally.
Our Charitable and Political Contributions Policy not only provides high ethical standards for contributions from Uniti, but also gives each of our employees a voice in how Uniti supports our hometowns. We encourage our employees to nominate local charitable organizations and events to be financially supported by Uniti. Our investment, however, runs deeper than just financial giving.
We are deeply grateful that many of our employees choose to invest their own precious resources, including time volunteering and supporting many of these same organizations.
Uniti further encourages this practice by offering our employees a generous paid volunteer time program. We believe using our resources for good changes how we see the world and our place in it.
We believe using our resources for good changes how we see the world and our place in it.
HOW WE SUPPORT
Human Rights
“Human rights are fundamental and should be upheld at every turn, not simply in day to day life, but in each and every business transaction. Uniti is committed to being an industry leader in all issues related to human rights. We believe that fair labor, as well as minority and women’s rights, are essential to overall corporate success. Child labor and human trafficking are abhorrent and corporations have a responsibility to take action to prevent them from occurring.”
—Kenny Gunderman | President & CEO
Fostering human rights
Uniti’s corporate values promote and foster human rights and related issues such as customer privacy and data protection. We express these values not only by adhering strictly to our Whistleblower Policy and Code of Conduct, but also by fostering relationships built on respect, integrity and fairness. We expect our business partners to hold themselves to similar high standards in these regards.
We respect the broad principles of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and believe they should be guideposts for businesses around the globe. Uniti will continue to promote human rights and values by engaging with our communities, evaluating our business models and incorporating new policies and practices where appropriate.
HOW WE SUPPORT
Our Environment
As a non-traditional real estate investment trust that primarily invests in communications distribution assets rather than other traditional REIT assets, Uniti’s policies towards environmental stewardship are unlike those of many other real estate investors.
However, Uniti appreciates the role that our investments and interactions play with respect to environmental stewardship, and is committed not only to undertaking an environmental risk analysis as part of every investment decision we make, reducing our direct resource usage and impacts where consistent with our fiduciary duties and disclosing material environmental impacts that our operations may have, but also holding our vendors to high standards, including environmental ones, through enforcement of our Vendor Code of Conduct. For additional information regarding Uniti’s commitments and practices in this area, please consult our Environmental Policy.
Assessing environmental impacts of operations
Compared to many other businesses, Uniti is not a significant direct user of energy, water or other natural resources, and our business operations have only a minimal impact on the environment. We do not mine or import raw materials, nor do we engage in manufacturing, shipping, agricultural or other environmentally intensive activities. Uniti’s minimal environmental impacts originate from two primary areas: 1) operations deploying communications network infrastructure undertaken by our subsidiaries, and 2) general corporate operations.
To date, Uniti is not aware of any non-compliance with any clean water or clean air standards, or any environmental licenses, permits, or other requirements. Furthermore, Uniti acknowledges the human right to water and sanitation, and specifically, that everyone is entitled to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.
Everyone is entitled to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.
HOW WE PROVIDE
Our Annual ESG Reports
“Uniti’s ESG Report demonstrates our commitment to operating our businesses in a sustainable and responsible manner, while at the same time continuing to grow each one of those businesses and realizing significant value for our stockholders, customers, and communities.”
—Kenny Gunderman | President & CEO
