Strengthening diversity in the workplace and advancing financial inclusion through partnerships with community-based financial institutions were the subjects of the Business Roundtable’s recent event, “Bridging The Gap: Creating Wealth through Equitable Opportunity.” The convening brought together CEOs, experts and thought leaders to discuss the important topics like addressing the digital divide and supporting Black business, entrepreneurship and supplier diversity.
During the panel discussion focused on partnering with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s, discussed his company’s nearly $20 million investment in the past year to HBCUs to establish programs for students to study retail, supply chain, and information technology to “create a pipeline of talent as [Black students] graduate” from college.
On a panel focused on community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs), Nicole A. Elam, President and CEO of the National Bankers Association, discussed the importance of expanding access to capital in Black communities, especially given that Black-owned banks have diminished from 134 to 19 over the years. CDFIs and MDIs “need the infrastructure to push out that lending capital,” Elam told the audience.
The Business Roundtable is a leading American organization that represents chief executive officers (CEOs) of major corporations. Since its founding in 1972, the organization advocates for positions on a range of issues, including on advancing racial equity. After the U.S. public mobilized to protest the murder of George Floyd – demonstrations considered to be one of the largest civil rights movements in American history – the Business Roundtable leveraged its platform to discuss the business community’s responsibility to address systemic racism. Craig Arnold, Chairman & CEO of Eaton and a member of the Business Roundtable, wrote that: “While business leaders are not arbiters of justice, we will do what is in our power to advocate for commonsense policing reforms and facilitate the full reintegration of justice-involved individuals into society removing barriers to economic opportunity.”
Smith’s Work on Business Roundtable
Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, is an at-large board member of the Business Roundtable. He is also a member of the group’s Special Committee for Racial Equity and Justice. Established in 2020, the committee provides research and recommendations for ways businesses and government can advance racial equity. They have produced reports that highlight inequities in education, finance, employment, the legal system, healthcare and housing – all of which contribute to the racial wealth gap – and propose policy recommendations to address these inequities. They also amplify pledges and donations made by Business Roundtable members, like the $1 million Walmart contributed to Student Freedom Initiative, a nonprofit organization created by Smith to aid and alleviate Black graduates hampered by student debt. In an opinion piece written in USA Today, Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart and the Chair of the Committee for Racial Equity and Justice, said “it’s clear we need to do more. It’s also clear that we, alone, can’t accomplish what has to be done. It will take broad cooperation of leaders from every sector of society working together to create a force sufficient enough to bring about the necessary change.”
Smith is a leading voice calling on businesses to do more in addressing racial equity. He has been acknowledged by Forbes forThe 2% Solution, a public call for large corporations to donate 2% of their annual earnings to institutions that serve the Black community.
“The deprivation of capital is one of the areas that creates a major problem to the enablement of the African American community,” Smith told more than 200 philanthropists at the ninth annual Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy. “The first thing to do is put capital into those branch banks to lend to these small businesses to actually create an opportunity set.”
