Data-Based Equity Work to be Next Topic of ABC’s Interview Series

On the laurels of their successful 2021 speaker series which hosted leaders of color from high-profile entities such as Comcast, Google X, and even Oprah Winfrey herself of OWN and Harpo Productions, Associated Black Charities will eagerly relaunch Equity First on June 1st with a free virtual session. Registration is available now on abc-md.org/speakerseries.

The first guest of 2022 will be Dr. Alex Camardelle, Director of the Workforce Policy at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Dr. Camardelle leads a program that centers Black workers in policy debates concerning the future of work, workforce development, and access to good jobs. He also serves as Principal Investigator for anti-poverty research at the National African American Child and Family Research Center housed at Morehouse School of Medicine.

In previous roles, Dr. Camardelle served as the Senior Policy Analyst for Economic Mobility at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute where his research and advocacy supported policy reforms shaping workforce development, worker justice, and access to core safety net programs for individuals and families with low incomes. He also worked at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, where he was responsible for strengthening economic opportunity through research, grantmaking, and partnerships.

Dr. Camardelle’s extensive work toward the creation of an equitable workforce is in deep alignment with ABC’s mission to close the documented racial wealth gap in Baltimore.

When asked about preparing for her interview with Dr. Camardelle in the wake of recent racial violence across the nation, ABC’s President and CEO Diane Bell McKoy shared that “If we, as a country, do not have the collective willpower to act and save our children and the most vulnerable adults, Black adults, from mass shootings, I am not sure we can save ourselves from the intentional economic disregard of Black workers in this country. Our only hope may lie in as many organizations and individuals as possible joining forces to educate, share data, measure data and provide concrete information about the negative reality for Black workers and how it impacts everyone else. Dr. Camardelle’s work at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is a part of the hope for change.”

ABC’s Equity First | a speaker series consists of interviews with key leaders, from Baltimore and across the nation, who recognize that sustainable change for people of color will only come when structural and institutional barriers are replaced with equitable policies, practices, and institutions. Invited speakers are those who have put equity first in their careers and their passions.

At the time of this release, the 2022 event sponsors include Wells Fargo, Johns Hopkins, and Whiting-Turner, with the AFRO News as the exclusive Media Sponsor for ABC. Free registration for the event, along with the opportunity to give towards ABC’s operations and programming, may be found on abc-md.org/speakerseries.