The New York Urban League (NYUL) has announced the creation of The Diversity and Inclusion Lab to help provide Corporate America with a much-needed pipeline of Black leadership talent.
They have selected Kenneth L Johnson of the Diversity Recruitment Firm, East Coast Executives to lead this effort. “Following the unrest of the summer, corporations are being challenged to set and meet diversity goals,” stated NYUL’s President & CEO Arva Rice.
Yet, company leaders continue to report disappointing Black representation in Corporate America’s C-suites. Currently, Black professionals hold less than 1% of all Fortune 500 CEO positions and only 3.2% of all executive or senior leadership roles, according to the latest statistics from the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI). “One CEO at Wells Fargo was broadly criticised for saying there was a dearth of Black talent, so we want to dispel that myth,” said Rice.
ACCESS TO DIVERSE TALENT
The Diversity and Inclusion Lab will support US companies to find Black professionals to fill leadership positions. “Members of the Diversity and Inclusion Lab will be able to search eligible candidates in a portal that has been populated by NYUL with membership of its Young Professionals and others,” explained Rice. “The goal of the Diversity and Inclusion Lab is to bring companies and management struggling with how to build inclusive environments to share best practices and access diverse talent through the New York Urban League.”
Image credit: NYUL
“Corporations must make their workplaces mirror their customers and NYUL wants to help,” added Rice. “NYUL has a long history of working with corporations to help them hire diverse candidates, train candidates and source businesses for supplier diversity programmes.”
IMPROVING BLACK REPRESENTATION
“To improve Black representation in corporate America, we need to take an intentional look at how our network and subject matter expertise could be more beneficial to organisations that are committed to sourcing, hiring and supporting Black talent,” commented East Coast Executives President Kenneth Johnson. “Our aim is to create an open, equitable platform that allows for intentional networking, DE&I training, Professional Development Workshops and the sharing of opportunities. Everyone will benefit and ultimately advance workplace diversity.”
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic challenges, both partners are committed to bringing The Diversity and Inclusion Lab to life during US Black History Month in 2021. “The timeline is aggressive and we need help from the company leaders that are committed to the initiatives and directives that they themselves laid out in the aftermath of the social justice demonstrations across the country,” added Johnson.
If you would like to get involved or would like more information about the platform contact: kjohnson@nyul.org
What’s the real reason behind the stark representation of Black leaders in corporate America? Find out by clicking here.
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