Investment in diversity and inclusion initiatives—measured by dollars spent and new positions created—has never been higher. While this isn’t a new trend, it is one that picked up steam last year and prompted many to ask what else the business community should do to combat systemic inequality and racism.
“We saw it over and over on television, with our own eyes,” said Paula Price, ’88, referring to the murder of George Floyd, the unrest that followed, and the pandemic’s disproportionate impacts on Black people and other marginalized groups. “If we can witness that and not respond to it, then shame on us.”
Should business do more, and what does “more” look like?
That’s what Price, a public and private company independent board director and strategic advisor, discussed with other business leaders at “Innovating for Social Equity: The Responsibility of the Business Community,” an event hosted by the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation and the Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State. The Rustandy Center event series explores efforts by the philanthropic and private sectors to address the barriers that still prevent our society and economy working for everyone. (The first two examined equity through an investing and philanthropy lens.)
