Since the Great Recession more than 6,000 bank branches have closed across the country. And right now, 70 percent of African-American communities lack access to a bank branch, according to Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners.  This means that too often people in these communities

In a moment where the racial disparities entrenched in our society are being thrust into the spotlight, national leaders like Cornell University and Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, are stepping up to the plate to make a difference.  Cornell University recently announced grant funding

The pandemic has hit the entire economy hard, but Black-owned businesses have been hit hardest. Black-owned businesses have been twice as likely to close during the pandemic, yet they have also received less aid from the federal government. The ten poorest congressional districts received $13.3 billion less in PPP loans

The Federal Reserve holds an important mandate in America — maximum employment, stabilize prices and moderate long term interest rates. But in the reserve’s long history, the mandate hasn’t focused on Black Americans or eliminating the systemic racism they face in our economy. That’s changing — and the first Black

More young people are going into debt than ever before in order to finance their college education. This debt disproportionately impacts Black students — who take on 85.8% more debt than their white counterparts, according to a 2018 study by the American Sociological Association. This debt can be crippling, and

Robert F. Smith called on institutions to do their part in calling out and addressing systemic racism in America. Columbia Business School recently took steps to do just that. A June 2020 update from Gita Johar, the Vice Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, said that this moment calls for