WEBVTT - Former CFTC Head Bowen on Advancing Women in Business 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:05.320 Welcome to the Bloomberg Penel podcast. I'm Paul swing you. 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:07.760 Along with my co host Lisa Brahmas. Each day we 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:10.399 bring you the most noteworthy and useful interviews for you 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.640 and your money, whether at the grocery store or the 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.960 trading floor. Find a Bloomberg penl podcast on Apple podcast 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:18.040 or wherever you listen to podcasts, as well as at 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:22.520 Bloomberg dot com. There is a question, a burning question 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:25.920 of why there is such a lack of women at 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:28.800 tech companies and at finance companies. And joining us now 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:32.760 at the Bloomberg Business of Equality Summit is Sharon Bowen. 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:34.919 She has a partner at Seneca Women, which is an 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.880 app designed to promote women in technology. She also happens 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.120 to be the former commissioner of the u s c FTC, 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:44.400 the Commodity Features Trading Commission. We are so happy to 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:46.239 have you, Sharon, Thank you for being with us. I 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.839 want to start with where are we How much progress 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.240 have we actually made when it comes to these male 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:56.520 dominated fields like technology and banking. We're making progress, but 0:00:56.680 --> 0:01:00.680 frankly a little bit too slowly in my opinion. UM. 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.720 One of the stats that went a highlight is when 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.960 we look at global bank CEOs only two percent of women. 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:10.640 When we look at global bank boards, less than twenty 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.200 percent of women. And so I think in finance we 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.120 definitely have a leadership gap that we need to fail. So, Sharon, I, 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:19.440 I've spent uh, you know, over twenty five years on 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:21.120 Wall Street, and what I noticed over the years and 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.960 doing a lot of recruiting is, you know, incoming recruiting 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.080 class of young folks out of business school or something 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.800 that looks really representative of the overall population in terms 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:32.080 of gender and and and and ethnicity, but as you 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:34.880 go through the ranks, it really just becomes more male, 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.400 more white. And what do you think corporate America generally 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.640 can do to kind of support women's support minorities throughout 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:44.400 their career paths? Um, And you're right. We I think 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:46.800 we've solved the pipeline problem that used to be the 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.480 paradigm where are they we can't find them? Um? I 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.440 think we solved that problem. UM. But I think companies 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.320 have to look at um themselves holistically, what barriers that 0:01:56.400 --> 0:02:00.360 they are that may be preventing people to success. UM. 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:03.880 You know, whether or not UM, we consider not just 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:09.000 things like you know, flex time, but frankly, equal pay. Um, 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.000 that's one way we can change the dynamic. And I 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:13.960 think more importantly, you know, I think one of the 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:15.800 messes out there is that, you know, we don't need 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:18.240 to fix the women, We need to fix the system. 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:20.280 And so I think companies need to be a lot 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:24.480 more intentional and approaching these issues and finding ways to 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.440 engage their employees UM in a better way. So what 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:29.400 are some reasons why? I mean, just to give a 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:33.160 sense of what you have done, because your career has 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:37.320 been storied, It's been tremendous, including UH being a corporate 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:42.440 transactional lawyer, Davis Polk, Latham and Watkins of the most 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:47.360 premier law firms. Why aren't there more women atop these 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:51.320 high paying fields that typically are among the most respected 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:55.000 in society. Well, you know, if I had to start 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.320 with the wise, why women aren't at the table, why 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.760 women aren't getting equal pay, why women aren't dancing? Frankly, 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.480 we could be here for a while. Um, so just 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:07.920 three minutes, um. But you know what I'd like to 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.400 focus much more on is is sort of the future. 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:14.239 And I quoted earlier May Jamison, who was the first 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:18.280 African American UH woman astronaut to travel in space, and 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:22.519 she said, the future never just happened, it was created. 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.880 And so I think it's our job to, you know, 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:30.240 harness our collective power, our knowledge to create a different future, 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:32.560 and the future that we really want to see. So 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.240 it's at at Seneca Women. I know you've created new 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:38.880 technology product to address some of these issues. So Seneca Connect, 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.200 can you tell us a little bit about that? Yes, So, 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:45.000 Seneca Connect is the first app design to advance women 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:48.360 at work and in the economy. We work with Apple 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.400 to create it. We were one of eleven women own 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:56.280 business entrepreneurs selected for the first Apple Entrepreneurship Camp and 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:59.320 I'm really excited about that and the fact that our 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:03.040 Apple is really trending wealth in the app store. You 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.760 can download it for free. We also have an enterprise 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:10.000 versions for corporations to help them create a much more 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.040 diverse and inclusive culture. How does it do that? What 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:16.880 does it actually do? So we give daily content tips 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:20.440 and tactics lessons from um more leaders. We give you 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:24.200 tools and resources that you can use to to move 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:27.120 to move the needle, if you will, and we use 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.160 it as a way for companies to engage their employees 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:34.280 with feedback, because we know with greater employee engagement, you 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:39.200 get better productivity, you get better profitability, and people feel 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:42.360 better about coming to work every day. Yeah. It's really 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.400 interesting and definitely something that we've seen again and again 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.000 showing that the broader the viewpoints, the broader, uh, the 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:53.320 diversity of people's backgrounds and experiences, the better the business case. 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.760 Have you found that most companies are receptive to that story. Well, 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:58.960 not only their receptive, but I think that the data 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:03.080 bear set out I think pretty much through all me tricks, um, 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.839 I think we're now sort of pass that that proof 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.080 if you will. It's just not doing it, yeah, which 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.560 is which is good. It's about doing it um. And 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:12.839 it's also about being you know, much more intentional in 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.719 terms of where we invest our money and UH and 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.760 making sure that we support women owned businesses. And I 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:21.119 think earlier I mentioned that only you know, two percent 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:23.919 of VC funds and four percent of bank loans go 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.440 to women owned businesses, which I find that troubling, particularly 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.480 given them out of wealth that women control, I think 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.440 we will be controlling something like seventy two twillion dollars 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:38.040 of global wealth by so we need to use that 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:41.320 money that we have in our big accounts and private 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:43.800 equity funds to make sure we can lend to women, 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:45.840 because it's puzzling to me why we can't use our 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.080 own money to lend to women. So yeah, the seventy 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:52.240 two trillion dollars in my bank account, Polly, I'll be 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:55.159 right there for Sharon Brown, Thank you so much. Sharon 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.080 is a partner at Seneca Women, also a former commissioner 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.680 of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commison. Thank you so much, 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:02.560 Thank you so much. Joining us here a Bloomberg at 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:05.360 Bloomberg Business of Equality Summit. Here at the Bloomberg HQ 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:19.440 in New York, we are broadcasting live from the Bloomberg 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:23.160 Business of Equality Summit at Bloomberg Headquarters in New York. 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.440 We are so excited to bring in our next guest, 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:29.920 Caroline Tasted, Group of President for North America for Procter 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:34.040 and Gamble, joining us after her panel on gender equality. 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:37.200 And I've got to say, when you talk about equality, 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:40.599 what is the ultimate goal? I mean, what is sort of, uh, 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.279 the best case scenario of a fully equal boardroom or 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:48.679 a fully equal company look like to you. Thanks Lasa. 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.200 It's a pleasure to be here. Uh. And what it 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.800 means to us from an overall standpoint for PNG is uh, 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.240 frankly winning. Uh. You know. So we know that when 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:00.520 we have any good, when we have an equal world, 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:03.359 when we create a world where we have equal voice 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:07.680 for women and men and for all individuals, that communities 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.240 are healthier, businesses thrived, the world's a better place for 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:12.960 all of us. And so from a business perspective, we 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:16.000 know it's a key contributor to growth. And so for me, 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:19.520 equality equals winning and a great place to work. So 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.880 within PNG, a global organization, a huge organization, what are 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:27.200 some success stories that have pushed equality and diversity through 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:29.920 in your organization? And then commercially, what are some of 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:33.679 the stumbling blocks you guys will come up against? Great question? Uh, 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.960 From a from an overall standpoint, we at P ANDNG 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:40.680 have what we call our principles, are values, our purpose 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.840 as a company, and so our value is very deeply 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.080 tied to a world where everybody gets to bring their 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:51.800 full self to work. So equality very broadly um identified 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:55.840 and we think about that from all types of intersectionality, 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.880 both visible and invisible. As you think about that, so 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:02.480 that's a core part of who we are as a company. 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:04.200 It's a really big part of why I'm still with 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.680 this company more than thirty years later. It's just a 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:09.200 great company to work for, and it's a company that 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:13.920 values individuals, and so that's certainly a starting point as 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:17.239 we think about equality. We also know that it's really 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:20.239 important what a company stands for. What a company works 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:23.280 on is important to the stakeholders around it, whether those 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:29.160 are investors, whether those are partners, consumers, customers, are employees. 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:34.920 It's really important today for companies to speak up on 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.680 issues that are important to all of those stakeholders, and 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.040 that's what we do with our citizenship voice. And one 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.080 of those part one of part of that voice is 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:45.200 really equality, whether it be gender equality, whether it be 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:48.679 diversity inclusion in a very broad in a very broad perspective. 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:52.480 So they're growing number of socially responsible funds and people 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.720 who are looking to investing companies that do focus more 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.960 on equality. How does one measure it? I mean, from 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:03.520 your perspective, how should people look at a more equal company? 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.319 What should that look like? It's a great We think 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.600 about it as equal representation, but we also think about 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.080 it as equal voice. And those might be different things. 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.920 It's hard to measure. It is hard to measure. Representations 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:18.079 not hard to measure. Representation is not hard to measure, 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:22.559 but you can also we all do company engagement surveys. 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.680 We all get feedback from our employees. We work very 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.319 hard to have dialogue so that we can get employees 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.320 feedback on what's working or not working. And so that's 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.240 where the engagement comes in. And you think about we 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:37.720 know that engagement drivers are for our employees are really 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:39.720 making sure that they have a company they can be 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:41.839 proud of, They have a they feel like they can 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.760 make a difference in the work that they do every day. Uh, 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:47.520 they have a place to really learn, to grow, to 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:50.280 advance their career. All of those are engagement drivers. And 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:53.120 a part of what delivers that for people is a 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:56.240 company that stands for things that are good. We want 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:58.720 to be a force for good within the world that 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:01.240 we live in today, with in the communities that are 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:03.960 people live, in the communities we serve, and we also 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.640 believe that when we integrate that, when we get that 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:09.360 right and it's fully integrated to the business, which is 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:12.840 always our intention, it always it also becomes a force 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:15.520 for good for growth. Rather, we're speaking with Carol and 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:19.719 Tested P and G North American Group President on diversity equality. 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:21.640 One of the ways I think we can measure it 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.200 is in the paycheck. And I know there's a US 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:28.520 government issue about paycheck transparency where you know, I guess 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:30.840 you have to report dated about you know, pay on 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:33.280 gender and race and so on and so forth. Does 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:37.520 that's the P AND embraces we look very carefully pay equality. 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.080 That we are very committed to pay equality and making 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:43.160 sure that we pay equally for equal work, equal pay 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:47.839 across any any aspect. And so we audit that externally, 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.600 we work on that internally, we measure it to make 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:54.120 sure we deliver pay equality, and we feel very good 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:56.960 about our work in that place. We have a very 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:01.080 very high correlation to equal pay, will work for women, 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:05.120 for men, for people of color. That said, the other 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:07.319 thing we said is a very high standard for ourselves. 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:09.800 We are not fifty fifty yet at the very top 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.440 of our company. We are committed to get there, but 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:15.120 we're not there yet. And if you think about all 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:18.040 of the studies from a pay equality and a pay transparency, 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.520 the biggest contributor to pay inequality is lack of women's 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:26.120 representation and people of color representation at the very top 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:29.160 of organizations. And so while we feel great about the 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:33.440 work that we do and our and our intentionality of 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.160 equal pay, equal work, we also know that we contribute 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.520 to the wealth gap by virtue of not having equal representation, 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.080 and we're very committed to closing that. Where are we 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:45.600 in terms of making progress in this front? Remember last 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:47.679 year we talked about some of the brands that Procter 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.720 and Gamble has, whether it's Bounty or charmin or Crest 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.240 and Dawn, and I'm thinking of the advertisements they'll see 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:57.120 on television, and they do represent you know, more diverse 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:00.920 families and different living situations. And we talked about how 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:04.280 that's conscious, it's it's it's very intentional thing. I'm wondering, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:07.520 is there ever pushback from consumers, are from you know, 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.600 groups of people that perhaps aren't aren't necessarily you know, 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:15.360 loving that there can be. There certainly can be for 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.560 when we get it right for our consumers, for the 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:21.600 people were targeting. We we tend to do well, but 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.160 certainly there are situations where we take a stand on 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:27.960 things and it's uh and we get different reactions. So 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.440 you may have seen our Gillette campaign that we launched 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:35.000 in January, which is really all about believing in the 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.920 very best of men, believing in men, setting a great 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.520 role model for the next generation. But when we launched 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:44.640 that campaign, we had different reactions. Did you know that 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:46.719 it was going to be as controversially expected that it 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.280 would We expected that it would be and some of 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:53.080 the reaction, UM was a very orchestrated campaign in that 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:57.440 from that regard, but we really felt very committed to 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:00.480 the message. We feel very committed to be leaving in 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.200 the best of men. We feel very committed to what 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.840 men can do to take a stand and and role 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:09.280 model what we need in the next generation. And uh, 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:11.520 and we believe in the best of men. Do you 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:13.760 think that it ended up being a positive for the 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:17.280 business as well? I think it's I think it can 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:18.959 be a positive for the business. One of the things 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:22.200 that was really um noticeable, and you know, we measure 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:27.440 everything and we we failure. We worked to be very 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.400 authentic in our voice, because if you're not authentic, it 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.800 comes across as that. But certainly, if you think about 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.640 Generation Z or millennials under thirty, we had a very 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.200 positive reaction. They had a very positive reaction to that 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.160 entire campaign. UM. And frankly, our intention with that was 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.200 to spark a conversation, to spark a dialogue, to have 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:51.240 people talk about it and and learn and and create discussion. 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.680 And we certainly did that, and that was the intention. Carol. Then, Tasta, 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:56.680 thank you so much for joining us. Carol is a 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:59.920 group president for North America for Proctor and Gamble baseds Cincinnati, 0:13:59.920 --> 0:14:02.400 of course, but joining us here at the Bloomberg Business 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:05.840 of Equality Summit at Bloomberg Headquarters in New York City. 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:07.920 We can we can all attest. It's very sunny out 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:09.880 to what I'm saying, we have said in our eyes 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:12.439 and everything. Carol, thank you so much. Clearly, Lisa, you 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:15.920 know a compelling issue for corporate America. You know, it's 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.680 I think that the data has been clear for years 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.200 that equality, diversity within the companies, within the board rooms, 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.400 it's good business. You see it in superior performance, So 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:39.960 that data is pretty clear. Well, Immigration and the accompanying 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.880 nationalism was certainly a central theme to the presidential election, 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:47.040 and it has become even more prominent under the Trump administration. 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.880 UM to see how business and political leaders are navigating 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.800 this complex issue. We welcome Ali Irani. Ali is the 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:57.000 executive director of the National Immigration Form based in Washington, 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.640 d C. But he joins us here today at the 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.000 bloom Burg Business of Equality Summit here at the Bloomberg 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.720 headquarters in New York. Ali, welcome to Bloomberg. You know, 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:09.960 how does immigration reform and the rise of nationalism impact 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.560 corporate America? How how's corporate America dealing with this? We 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:15.400 we know it's a political issue, but how is it 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.200 from the business perspective? Well, our senses that corporate America 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.640 is really trying to parse out the politics from the policy. Uh. 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.440 You know, clearly this is a really intense political debate 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.520 at the national level, but corporate leadership across the country 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.440 is really trying to understand how do they serve their 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:34.120 immigrant consumers, but also how do they integrate and support 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:36.760 their foreign board workforce and really kind of create a 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.040 corporate family culture. Um. We've been actually working closely with 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:44.200 corporations from Walmart to Chobani, to Commons and and many 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:48.360 others to really help them, uh, develop the strategies to 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.560 better integrate their foreign board workforce and provide the skills 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.240 and opportunities so that all of us can thrive. So 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.400 you've been doing this a long time, right, how much 0:15:57.760 --> 0:15:59.600 is what we're seeing now in terms of the wave 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.680 of now tionalism different from periods of time in the past, 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:05.720 both that you've seen as well as just in the 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:07.720 history books in the United States, if you look at 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.440 the history books. Uh, I mean, the sad part of 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.520 our nation, Sistor, is that we have a long track 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:14.560 record of not being very nice to the people who 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:16.840 come after us. Um, you know, the turn of the 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:19.640 nineteenth century. Uh, you know, there have been peaks and 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:22.640 valids of this debate. What's different now is that we 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:27.440 have a media environment that is very quick, is very partisan, 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:30.840 and brings that picture, that sound of the family fleeing 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:34.760 violence or corruption or poverty to your living room. So 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.960 there's a perception or feeling that, you know, the refugee 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:40.360 fleeing Syria, the migrant fleeing Honduras is going to be 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.560 your next door neighbor tomorrow. So what can leaders do 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.120 in the corporate sector, in the public sector due to 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:49.200 help the American public understand global migration? I mean, look, 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.720 this is going to be one of the top issues 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:55.760 for generations to come. Sixty million people are forcibly displaced. Today, 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:59.680 over two fifty million people live in another outside of 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:01.960 their home country. This issue isn't going away. We need 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:05.040 leadership from the corporate sector, which is emerging UM, as 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:08.679 well as from the elected officials. So you've traveled to 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.639 Honduras to Mexico. You've seen what the US southern border 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.080 issue is on the other side. What what are some 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.199 of your experiences there. So a few weeks ago as 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:19.720 part of a delegation that went from San Pedro Sula 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:23.440 in Honduras to El Paso and into Juarez. And what's 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:25.520 really clear is that in a country like Honduras it's 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:29.480 just eight million people, not a very large country population wise, UM, 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.040 it is a very it's undergoing a very very toxic 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:35.639 mix of corruption, violence and poverty. So people are now 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:37.440 at this point they're saying, you know what, as a group, 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:39.920 we can be safe by walking to the US to 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:44.040 seek asylum and safety. This administration, unfortunately, has done everything 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:46.439 in their power to stop people from being able to 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.080 seek asylum. The amazing part is that when we were 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.760 in Ola Passo, you have the faith community, the business community, 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:54.080 law enforcement who want to make sure that people can 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.800 apply for asylum in a safe and fair way. If 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.280 people don't apply or don't are not eligible, they should 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:01.440 they shouldn't be out to remain. So we're not saying 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:02.920 everybody should be able to come. We should be able 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:04.680 to say if people are seeking asylum, they should be 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:06.760 able to apply for asylum. So one of the big 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:11.879 arguments against allowing having an easier policy of bringing in 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:15.640 immigrants is that they will take jobs and they will 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.960 accept lower wages than people who are already in the 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:22.840 United States will accept, and that will drive down how 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.879 much people get paid. What have you seen with respect 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:29.560 to that? And uh, you know, is that is anything 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:31.920 changing on that front? Yeah, So a few years ago 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:34.600 there's a national Caddegis of Science panel that get the 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:38.320 leading academics in the country looking at precisely this question. Um, 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:40.000 and we have to be honest about it. Um. At 0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:42.560 the high skill or even the middle skill level, there 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:45.600 is no impact and it grows quickly. At the positive 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:48.199 impact grows quickly over time. That's the h one B 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:51.720 issue probably probably right at the lower skill is level 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:54.560 of their economy, there is a small impact on wages. 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.480 We're talking you know, one percent impact more or less 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:01.240 that impact. Negative impact dissipates quite quickly as you move 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:05.520 through time, so net benefit to the economy at large 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:09.440 is positive. The questions that American workers have and their 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:11.960 families have, because ultimately we all want the same thing. 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:14.359 We want our children to do better than us, is real. 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.159 So I think as advocates, as corporate leaders, we have 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:20.320 to be honest about that conversation and help people understand 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.199 that immigrants are creating jobs, they're protecting American values, and 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:26.400 ultimately they are like the rest of us. They want 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:28.479 to make sure their children gonna do better than them. So, 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:32.520 in this very politicized environment as it relates to immigration, 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:35.919 what are you seeing from corporate America from the boardrooms? 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:39.080 How aggressive can they be in this environment? Well, you know, 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.720 um Lift is an amazing example. Right. So they're in 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:44.639 the news right now because of the their pending I 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:48.439 p O they released yesterday and news that they are 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:51.720 working with US the National Immigration Forum to help their 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:54.920 drivers improve their English language skills. This is a program 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:57.640 that was initially funded by the Walmart Foundation. We're also 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.960 working with Whole Foods and Kroger's and a number of others, 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:03.560 but for a lift to say we are a socially 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.879 responsible company. We're gonna do good by our drivers because 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:11.880 that makes us more responsible American citizen. UM. I think 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:16.600 is is not just reassuring, but it's inspiring to hopefully 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:19.760 the rest of the corporate community. Are there any industries 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:23.159 just quickly here that are suffering right now as a 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:26.919 result of reduced immigration to the United States. Oh, the 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:29.159 list can go on and on. Um uh. You know, 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:31.360 so if we want to maintain three percent GDP as 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:33.920 a nation, we've got to figure out our immigration system. 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:37.360 We need a functioning legal immigration system that provides adequate 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:40.600 labor for the agricultural sector, not just seasonal but year 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:46.400 round labor like the dairy industry, UM, the service sector, hotels, um. Processing, 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:50.520 but interestingly, even the manufacturing sector in the middle of America, 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:54.840 they are you know, really scrambling for not just labor 0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:57.080 at large, but you know, the folks that can do 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:00.840 the advanced manufacturing. UM. So it's us very easy for 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.520 this conversation becomes political and a kind of a war 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:05.640 of talking points. But when you look at the data, 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:08.320 when you talk to families and business leaders at the 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:10.280 local level, they're saying, you know, what we need a 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:14.280 functioning immigration system their folks. Ali Rani, executive director of 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:17.359 the National Immigration Forum in Washington, d C. Joining us 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:19.720 here in New York for the Bloomberg Business of Equality 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:24.200 Summit held it the headquarters here. Really interesting to hear 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:27.600 about immigration when whenever we talk to corporate leaders, they 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.720