Black History Month: More Than a Month
As we celebrate Black History Month in the United States, our firm’s internal theme for this year’s celebration—More Than a Month—is a reminder that 28 days is not enough to truly capture the dynamic contributions and complex history of Black/African Americans in the U.S., and that the collective actions required to combat racial injustice and inequality are ongoing.
As a 24-year veteran of T. Rowe Price, I have seen our firm make important strides in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We are making deliberate efforts to communicate our commitment and progress to our associates and the communities where we live and work.
This year, our firm is working together toward a shared objective to bring a collective focus to DEI. It will take everyone working together to reach these goals. We have several resources to support us on this journey, including a new Global Head of DEI, Raymone Jackson. We also have extensive training available to all associates, with more coming soon. And our Business Resource Groups continue to provide a forum for our associates, with engaging and informative programming on a variety of DEI topics.
We also have the members of the Black Leadership Council (BLC) informing and supporting this work. Our firm’s BLC was formed last year as an advisory group to our Management Committee to help in our efforts to attract, develop, promote, and retain Black associates and to identify issues that may get in the way of progress. I serve as the Executive Sponsor of the BLC and am honored to work with its members—16 Black associates in senior roles across the business.
While I have known many of these associates for years, focusing on DEI meant that we needed to be open to have the sometimes-uncomfortable conversations that come with this work. We committed to these hard conversations because we are driven to action. Because of that, we are building stronger relationships and working together to become better advocates for Black associates.
I know the BLC is not unique in that drive. I’ve heard examples across the firm of individuals and groups that have been moved to action—volunteering their time and energy both inside and outside T. Rowe Price.
I encourage you to push yourself to have the tough conversations that are required to make progress. Remember that each of us has the power to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments in our workplaces, our homes, our neighborhoods, and our communities.
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
CEO at Clarendon Global Partners, Board Director, Investor
4 年Good stuff Rob. Sounds like great progress..
Solutions Architect/SFMC SME/AJO Architect
4 年If educators rewrote our history books to reflect the history of all the races and cultures that it took to create America, from the "Discovery" of America by a Spanish fleet led by an Italian to the pilgrims from England who fled religious persecution to the Chinese, Irish, Italian workers who came to build the railways, to the African slaves brought to tend to the Agricultural growth in this country to the German scientists after World War 2, etc. were taught in our history books. We probably wouldn't have the outright racism we have now. Racism is created by ignorance and will continue as long as we don't educate our youths on America's true history.
Retired at Government Electronics
4 年Please consider some of the analysis by Dr Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institute. He has tried and true ideas to help Black futures rise to actual equality.
Author - Black Flora / Owner - Cottage In The Court
4 年More than a month is correct. The history of African Americans needs to be included and taught year-round. The 30-day celebration is part of why the information has become so limited to the masses. Unless an effort is made to discover what is not known, the thirty-day celebration is simply not long enough. What if American history was celebrated for only thirty days? I am a Black American 365 days a year and celebrate me each and every day. Thank you for acknowledging this truth.