Earlier this year, Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners championed the “2% Solution,” arguing that if private companies invested just 2% of their net income in Black communities and business, we could make tremendous progress in closing the racial wealth gap. The 2% Solution, sometimes referred

Robert F. Smith, Vista Equity Partners’s Founder, Chairman and CEO, believes that the Fourth Industrial Revolution has already begun. With the effects of COVID-19 continuing to unfold, our world is constantly adjusting to its new reality. Now that industries and individuals have access to enormous amounts of computing power, expansive

Building Equity with Improved Diversity Initiatives  As workforce diversity has become a recognized stepping stone to equity, thought leaders have formed partnerships to develop workforce solutions that contribute to economic and social justice. Recently, The Ford Foundation with the Treasurer of the State of Connecticut, Shawn Wooden, convened a coalition

In March, Congress passed federal stimulus and relief funding to help families and businesses weather the global health crisis and the economic shutdown. The federal relief included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which delivered more than 5 million loans amounting to more than $525 billion. Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman

America’s history has been profoundly marked by the contributions of Black changemakers. But too often Black Americans who have broken barriers, taken steps to advance equity, or achieved great success in their fields are not properly recognized. The series “Black History in Two Minutes” which is executive produced by Robert

In May 2019, Robert F. Smith wowed the graduating seniors at Morehouse College, a Historically Black College (HBCU) in Atlanta, Georgia, by announcing in his commencement address that he would pay off all of their student loans and any loans taken out by students’ family members. Smith’s realization that student