Disparities in employment have a profound impact on the ability to generate sustainable wealth. INROADS has created a program to help reduce racial wealth gaps through prioritizing early career placement, entry into high-income fields, and establishing career networks.
One way for leaders to begin to acknowledge the role that Corporate America plays in the advancement of racial equity is to take a hard look at their own inner workings and self-report on the measures that they are taking to address racism and it’s negative impact upon Black and Brown people.
JPMorgan Chase is looking to lead the charge in working with diverse companies; it has launched societal wealth-building mechanisms, spending $2.5 billion with diverse-owned businesses in 2019. Additionally, they have pledged $750 million to Black- and Latinx-owned businesses over the next five years. Committing to working with diverse-owned businesses is commendable, but what do we do when there aren't enough diverse-owned businesses with the necessary resources in place for those contracts to go around?
Nothing should systematically prevent equitable gainful employment opportunities or the development of future industry leaders. Workforce talent diversification, fueled and supported by programs like Apple's new Racial Equity and Justice Initiative must be a business imperative.