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Top CEOs admit racial divide, promise to work for "real change"

Mike Allen, author of AM

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

In a striking new sign of the broader role corporations are shouldering in society, Business Roundtable — the CEOs of America's biggest companies — today announced a raft of initiatives "to advance racial equity and justice."

Why it matters: Big companies are bluntly admitting, and tackling, injustices they so long ignored and perpetuated.

"Every American has been challenged by the events of this year but not equally," the BRT says. "[C]ommunities of color are bearing a disproportionate burden, widening an already large racial divide in America."

  • "[T]he events of 2020 have illustrated how far we still have to go to ensure that every person can fully realize opportunity and justice in America."

The CEOs are promising to push for "real change" in six areas: employment, finance, education, health, housing and criminal justice.

  • They promise to "make philanthropic investments, update employment practices and innovate within their businesses ... and will continue to engage with policymakers at the federal, state and local level."

Walmart president and CEO Doug McMillon, the Business Roundtable chairman, writes in USA Today:

[I]t's clear we need to do more. It's also clear that we, alone, can’t accomplish what has to be done. It will take broad cooperation of leaders from every sector of society working together.
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Go deeper

Axios Events
Sep 28, 2020 - Axios Events

Axios roundtable on small business

On Thursday, September 24 Axios' Sara Fischer and Dan Primack hosted the first in a series of three virtual roundtables, featuring business leaders, innovators, and policy experts to discuss how small businesses have adapted to the COVID-19 economy, the role of digital tools, and the path forward.

Moderators highlighted a study recently by Connected Commerce Council that showed 93% of small businesses were affected by coronavirus in loss of revenue, loss of customer base, the inability to use brick and mortar facilities, or access to staff. Attendees unpacked small business needs in a time of crisis, the impact of the Paycheck Protection Program, and broader trends in entrepreneurship.

Trevor Parham, founder and director of Oakstop and co-founder of the Oakland Black Business Fund discussed how capital buys small businesses time to make better informed decisions:

  • "A big part of what businesses need is not just the capital and not just the education, but it's the resource of time...A big part of what businesses are lacking at the small business level, especially minority businesses, is they don't have the runway to contemplate what they want to do as their next strategic move where some other businesses might."

Aerica Shimizu Banks, founder at Shiso LLC highlighted the specific needs of Black and minority owned businesses:

  • "The SBA and government agencies are somewhat limited in targeting by race and therefore create race blind policies that have the unintended consequences of sometimes cementing inequity in the distribution of resources and loans."
  • "There is also a strong story of resilience here for business owners of color, for women-owned businesses, that despite these challenges in the midst of this crisis, what we're seeing is that particularly business owners of color have been making the best of this pandemic in converting to digital."

Sery Kim, assistant administrator at the US Small Business Administration, Office of Women's Business Ownership discussed the most common obstacle for women starting their own businesses.

  • "The number one barrier for women being entrepreneurs is not access to capital. It is childcare."

Emilia Dimenco, Women's Business Development Center president and CEO on what small businesses need during economically turbulent periods:

  • "They really need technical assistance. A large corporation would hire a major consulting firm to help them pivot, help them through a major change. A small business can't do that. [They need] quality advisory services, and financial and business acumen."

Thank you Google for sponsoring this event.

Rebecca Falconer, Gigi Sukin
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse under scrutiny for elite club affiliations

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill in February. Photo: Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Image

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said in a statement Wednesday that he is a member of an exclusive Rhode Island sailing club that lacks diversity.

Why it matters: Whitehouse has repeatedly spoken out against systemic racism and come under scrutiny this week for his family's affiliation with elite clubs. This is the second such club accused of lacking diversity that the senator has been linked to in recent days

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Hans Nichols, author of Sneak Peek
3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Scoop: Border Democrats want migrants vaccinated

Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Tex.) Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Some Democrats representing border districts want President Biden to vaccinate migrants crossing into the U.S. — especially if he lifts public health restrictions that have prevented them from claiming asylum on American soil.

Why it matters: Inoculating migrants treads a fine line of protecting the U.S. population while possibly incentivizing more migration with the offer of free COVID-19 vaccines. Republicans are likely to pounce on that.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow