Congressional Black Caucus Addresses Diversity, Racial Wealth Gap at Forum
U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (Ohio-District 3) has made it her mission to break through the historic societal and economic barriers that resulted in the racial wealth gap.
Beatty, the first-ever Chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, hosted the forum “Money, Wealth and Disparities: Diversity and Inclusion Matter” in September during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 49th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
GM Financial Global Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Shunda Robinson was one of six experts on a panel moderated by author and Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson.
Both Beatty and Robinson mentioned diversity and inclusion initiatives based on the National Football League’s (NFL) Rooney Rule. Created in 2003, the rule requires NFL teams to interview at least one ethnic-minority candidate for head coach vacancies.
The House unanimously passed the “Ensuring Diverse Leadership Act, H.R. 281,” also known as the “Beatty Rule,” on Sept. 10. If enacted into law, it would require that at least one gender diverse candidate and one racially or ethnically diverse candidate are interviewed when there is a vacancy among the Federal Reserve Bank.
The bill is awaiting further consideration by the U.S. Senate, where companion legislation was introduced by Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).
“Diversity and inclusion matter because being in the room means opportunity,” Beatty told an audience of almost 400 attendees from across the country.
‘Actively and intentionally going after diverse slates’
Robinson has more than 20 years of experience helping major corporations shape their talent development strategies. At GM Financial, the auto financing arm of General Motors led by CEO Mary Barra, she is an advisor and partner to senior leaders.
Robinson proposed the Opportunity Rule to her colleagues to include among the company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, such as a robust mentoring program.
“The Opportunity Rule is in the infancy stage,” she explained. “It’s something that I introduced probably two years ago based off the Rooney Rule.
“Let’s think about it from a GM Financial perspective,” Robinson said she told her colleagues. “What does that look like for us?”
She explained, “We decided to call it the Opportunity Rule because it gives someone an opportunity to be a part of that diverse slate of candidates. At our company, we have officer positions. This is where the decisions are made. So, when we talk about a seat at the table, this is a table that you want to be seated at.
“I said for every officer position that we have open, we need to have a qualified person of color or a woman occupying the slate. This isn’t just meeting a quota, but it’s actively and intentionally going after diverse slates.
“And it’s working out amazingly. That’s where we see an increase in the numbers of women and professionals of color in leadership. That’s how we can intentionally make a difference.”
Robinson said that if a corporation is not transparent about its diversity and inclusion initiatives, there is “little to no accountability involved.”
“At GM Financial, we provide a report each year to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and report our numbers, good or bad, increase or not, it’s what we do, and we are committed to that,” she said.
“Only 3.2 percent of companies on the Fortune 500 list release complete data for the race and gender of their employees in each job category in management level. How are we holding these organizations accountable if we don’t know the information?”
According to the report “The Road to Zero Wealth: How the Racial Wealth Divide is Hollowing Out America’s Middle Class” by Prosperity Now and the Institute for Policy Studies, the accelerating decline in wealth over the past 30 years has left many Black and Latino families unable to reach the middle class.
Panelist Ariel Investment co-CEO and founder John Rogers said there continues to be a big discrepancy in income and pointed to data offered by the Federal Reserve of St. Louis, which found that between 1992 and 2016 college educated Blacks saw their wealth decline by 10 percent.
“Instead of inheriting multi-generational wealth and income opportunities, we have multi-generational family obligations and responsibilities that help set us back,” Rogers said.
He added that student loan debt “has made life more difficult.”
Financial education to combat predatory lending was also discussed at the forum, which is especially important for major purchases such as a home or vehicle.
Robinson said that “corporations have a responsibility to give back and to educate the consumers that they serve.”
A financial literacy program called KEYS was established by GM Financial in late 2016.
Featured panelists also included Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute Darrick Hamilton, international artist and entrepreneur Cedric Brown, Joseph Vaughan, executive director of the Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Forum, and KPMG Chief Diversity Officer Michele Meyer-Shipp.
