What It Means to Be ‘All In’ On Black Equity: Takeaways from Top C-Suite Executives

Just over one year ago, Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) formally launched the MLT Black Equity at Work Certification Program , the first-of-its-kind standard and roadmap for companies who want to take steps to move the needle on racial equity. We launched the Certification at a time of seismic progress for racial justice worldwide. Individuals and organizations alike were still reeling from the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many other persons of color. Moreover, the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately ravaged communities of color shed a harsh light on the systemic inequalities plaguing our health systems and social structures.

While the launch certainly felt timely, the Certification would not be here today without the hard work and dedication of my colleagues at MLT, the support of our partner organizations, the collaboration of our co-creators at BCG, and the resolve of our committed employers who took that crucial first step on their racial equity journey. Today, I’m proud to announce that since launch, the Certification has grown to nearly 50 top employers spanning numerous industries. At this exciting milestone, MLT has convened these employers under a new campaign— ‘All In’—to provide a platform for them to share their commitment to a rigorous approach to Black equity in their respective workplaces while encouraging others to sign on to the MLT Black Equity at Work Certification.?

As part of this effort, I connected with C-suite leaders from several of our committed employers to better understand what being 'All In' means to them.

Lessons Learned from Leaders in Corporate America

In the past year, we’ve seen a select group of companies take a significant stride forward on racial equity. Their experiences are key in marking a trail for the rest of Corporate America to follow. I recently connected with C-suite leaders from several of our committed employers to hear how the Certification guides their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) efforts today, with the hope that these lessons can be applied to all of Corporate America.

• I first connected with DK Bartley, Chief Diversity Officer at Moody’s Corporation, and one of the most vocal DE&I leaders in Corporate America today, who described what the Certification means for his company:

“We acknowledge the historic shortcomings of the financial services industry in promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace and recognize the responsibility we have to our employees, customers, stakeholders and society to enforce our diversity strategy. The MLT Black Equity at Work Certification helps to move the DE&I accountability agenda forward and ensures results.”

DK recognizes the evolving landscape of stakeholders who increasingly expect that companies speak out on racial equity. An Edelman study noted that 42% of consumers had started or stopped using a brand because of its response to racial justice. And among conservative audiences, 63% expect companies to take a stand when it comes to DE&I. As stakeholders increasingly view brands and organizations through a racial equity lens, taking a stand is no longer a “nice to have.”

• Cristina Santos, Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Capital Group also shared her perspective on how the Certification guides the approach to change at her company:

“At Capital Group, achieving racial equity is a core objective of our business strategy and through our partnership with MLT, we are committed to going ‘All In’ on the journey to Black Equity at Work. The success of the people who invest with us depends on the people we invest in, and we recognize how critical it is to recruit, develop and include diverse voices and talent across our organization. We also look for meaningful ways to impact black equity in the communities where we live and work.?MLT is a strong accountability partner as we continue to drive progress as a company.”

Cristina touches upon a critical point: to truly be ‘All In’—each committed employer must develop a strategy that adheres to all five of the Certification’s pillars, which includes their impact on the communities in which they operate in two areas: Racially Just Business Practices and Racial Justice Contributions and Investments.

Part of being a racially-just business involves the expansion and diversification of your company’s business network. Companies typically identify vendors, suppliers, and non-profits based on who they know. Many of these decisions are driven by the relationships of senior executives rather than the areas where a firm can have the greatest impact. Fulfilling this aspect of the Certification can be achieved by a plan that focuses on multiple efforts, including annual contributions or in-kind services to non-profit organizations. These initiatives should equip and empower the groups that are best positioned to increase Black equity on the ground.

• Kiera Fernandez, SVP of Talent and Change and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Target, shared what it means to be ‘All In’ on racial equity:

“At Target, we believe that diverse and inclusive teams are stronger and deliver the best results for our guests, teams and communities. Target has committed to building a diverse workforce where there is equity in hiring, development, and advancement for all. We also pledged to increase the representation of Black team members by 20% over the next two years as we help our Black team members build meaningful careers and experience success at every level and have invested in upskilling our leaders so they can support their team member’s careers and create a culture of inclusion. We support MLT’s mission, which is to transform our country’s leadership pipelines and increase access to the American Dream. We are proudly ‘All In’ to drive Black equity in the workplace and will continue to work with MLT as we have since 2006 to help advance this important work.”

The elements Kiera mentions enable us to say that our committed employers are truly ‘All In’ on the journey towards advancing racial equity within their respective workplaces. In the same vein, one of the markers of a company being ‘All In’ on racial equity is that the changemaking efforts do not come solely from the DE&I and HR teams only to be okayed from other business leaders. Having members of the finance department, the ESG team, accounting, and business services creates the space for accelerated collaboration and meaningful outputs.

Leaders at the top – especially CEOs – must prioritize the maturation of these teams as well as the discipline of DE&I so that they can more consistently drive business performance and deliver on racial equity outcomes.

• Jason Golub, Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion at Walker & Dunlop, expanded on the current challenges within commercial real estate and why W&D is focused on going ‘All In’:

“The commercial real estate industry has historically been one of the slowest industries to recognize and address the need to build a more racially equitable workplace. Some of the key factors perpetuating this challenge are that many Black students have been under-exposed to careers in commercial real estate, and meanwhile senior leadership – with its lower turnover rate – has been slow to diversify and realize the benefits of having a strong representation of Black leaders in their organization. W&D is committed to going ‘All In’ on the journey to change these dynamics and achieve Black Equity at Work. MLT’s rigorous certification program has helped us not only identify areas of strength and weakness, but also develop a strategic framework for achieving black equity inside our company and in the communities where we live and work. We have set aggressive, long-term goals to substantially increase the diversity of our management team and top-earner bracket – and, perhaps most notably, we have tied achieving those goals to our leaders’ compensation. We have committed resources, money, and manpower to partnerships that will further black equity, including with North Carolina Central University’s new real-estate program. W&D also started CREUnited, an industry-wide initiative with a goal of increasing assets under management for Black owners and operators in CRE. We are committed to transparency of our data, through proxy disclosures and our end-of-year Diversity Report, in an effort to provide quantitative data on where we are, and what comes next in our journey towards achieving black equity at W&D."

To close, I want to thank all of our BEWC committed employers. Together, there’s no doubt that we’re driving meaningful progress. Companies are publicly committing to standing on the right side of history, and we at MLT are seeing it at scale — public and private, small and large, and across sectors. They’re ‘All In.’

My question to you: is your company ‘All In’ on racial equity? On behalf of our committed employers and MLT: I invite you to join us. To learn how your company can advance your racial equity journey and commit to the MLT Black Equity at Work Certification, visit https://www.mltblackequityatwork.org and contact us to get started.

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Employers committed to the Black Equity at Work Certification are as follows: Abbott; Amalgamated Bank; Amazon; Ameren; Ares Management; Arnold & Porter; Bain Capital; BlackRock; Boston Consulting Group; Boston Consulting Group Digital Ventures; Brunswick Group; Capital Group; Cargill; Chipotle; Citi; CoStar Group; DaVita; Deloitte; EIS Group; Ernst & Young; Egon Zehnder; Eli Lily; FactSet; GoDaddy; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; Harvard Business Publishing; Hyatt Corporation; Kepler; kyu Collective; Maverick Capital; Mastercard; Mercy Medical Center; Moody’s; National Basketball Association; NerdWallet; Nike, Inc.; Peloton; PNC Bank; Sodexo, Inc.; Starbucks Coffee Company; State Street; Target; VF Corporation; ViacomCBS; Walker & Dunlop; WarnerMedia; and Workday.