WEBVTT - Social Impact's Effect on Black Wealth || Alphonso David, Global Black Economic Forum 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.080 Check me out at the annual Black Effect Podcast Festival, 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.800 happening Saturday, April twenty seventh in Atlanta. Live podcasts are 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:09.440 on deck from some of your favorite shows, including this one, 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:11.760 Black Tech, Green Money, and also some of the best 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.440 podcasts in the game like Deeply Well with Debbie Brown 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:17.480 and Carefully Reckless. Atlanta is one of my favorite cities 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:19.479 in the world. I've lived there for two years. Actually, 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:23.000 in my worldview, seeing us successful in every industry and 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.840 not having any limits on our potential largely was shaped 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:28.040 by Atlanta. So to be there with you doing this 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.360 podcast talking about how we build or leverage technology to 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.120 bill wealth. Come on, man, doesn't get better. I want 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.240 to see you there. Get your tickets today at Black 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:41.400 Effect dot comback Slash Podcast Festival. I'm Will Lucas and 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:42.960 this is Black Tech, Green Money. 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:45.320 I'll find so. 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.600 David has committed his life to actualizing a more just 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:52.760 and equitable world. His resume is page is long, but 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:55.680 for the sake of this podcast, he's President and CEO 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:59.840 of the Global Black Economic Forum, focused on reimagining what diverse, 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:04.120 the equity, inclusion and opportunity looks like in global workspaces 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:08.400 and marketplaces. As well as achieving the notion of economic justice. 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:11.880 For black people all over the world. As someone who's 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:13.880 worked across various sectors like he. 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:18.240 Has, including public service, business, nonprofit, and more, how does 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.600 Alfonzo believe technology. 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:22.399 Can be levised to address systemic inequalities. 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:28.839 I think that leveraging technology driven solutions to address systemic 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:34.520 inequalities really require collaboration. It requires us to reach across 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:40.640 sectors that considered challenges against marginalized communities or what marginalized 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:43.560 communities are facing. What I mean by that is we 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.319 have to look in education, we have to look at 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:50.280 wealth management, we have to look at policy advocacy, we 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:52.640 have to look at health equity, we have to look 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:56.520 at entrepreneurship, and in all of those different sectors we 0:01:56.640 --> 0:02:01.920 can leverage technology driven solutions to a systemic inequality. So, 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:06.560 as an example, if you look at education, technology can 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:10.840 provide access to quality education and training, which is really 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:15.000 essential to economic empowerment and other things that we think 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:19.679 of when we generally think of education, and the educational 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:24.160 platforms can really break down barriers to education with marginalized 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:28.960 communities to support resource challenge public schools and maybe provide 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:32.400 students with skills and knowledge that can help close the 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:37.799 wage gap. So you take another example wealth management. Fintech 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:41.800 innovations such as mobile banking and digital wallets and peer 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:46.280 to peer lending can expand access to financial services for 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:52.400 underserved populations, including those with traditional banking accounts and credit intories. 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:58.520 So by providing alternative financial solutions, technology can help marginalize 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:03.680 individuals build assets, improve their economic resilience. And then maybe 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:08.000 we think of a healthcare as another sector. Telemedicine and 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:12.680 mobile health applications can improve access to healthcare services for 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:18.040 communities with limited physical access to medical facilities, and so 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:21.960 if you're living in a remote setting, for example, where 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:26.280 it's difficult to gain access to other resources that people 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:29.320 have if they live in urban areas, telemedicine can be 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:33.960 incredibly helpful in addressing the gaps in healthcare delivery and 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:36.880 in fact empowering people to take control of their own health. 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:39.760 You said a couple things in there. I want to 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:43.080 point out one. You mentioned the phrase wealth management. I 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:45.680 believe you said wealth generation also, but I'm not positive 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:49.200 on that one. But I was thinking about reading your background. 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:53.000 You know, you've been involved in some really groundbreaking legislation. 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:57.120 Helping push those things, pushing things forward in particularly around 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.920 you know, social and economic systems. Is there an imperative 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:06.120 for black people to build wealth? Do we have a 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.240 responsibility to build wealth? 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:14.960 Yes? Yes and yes. Look, as black people, we have 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:21.360 centuries of colonization, enslavement, and systemic inequality that have impeded 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:25.720 our ability to gain financial freedom and the dignity that 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:30.120 we actually deserve. And when we talk about financial management, 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:34.320 when we talk about wealth generation, often people want to 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:38.159 divorce it from colonization, they want to divorce it from slavery, 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:42.000 they want to divorce it from systemic inequality, and we 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.680 can't do that. We have to sort of recognize the 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:48.680 systems that we operate within and how important it is 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:55.320 that we take our personal liberties and use those liberties 0:04:55.360 --> 0:05:00.360 that we have gained from our ancestors to achieve financial freedom. 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.400 You know, the most recent data from the Federal Reserve Survey, 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:10.839 I think it indicated during COVID that the wealth gap widened. 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.919 So between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty two, you know this, 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:18.400 the medium wealth saw an increase. However, the weave gap 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:22.200 or the wealth gap increase for people who are racial 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:25.120 minorities and if you put an even finer point on that, 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:27.800 when Martin Luther King gave a speech on the March 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:31.800 in Washington in the nineteen sixties, the wealth gap was 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.840 eight to one, and today that wealth gap is twelve 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:40.159 for me on the other way, Yeah, it's going the 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.360 other way. And as much as people talk about, you know, 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:47.520 advancements in technology and advancements in economic empowerment and all 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:51.799 of the other categories, we're seeing this gap increase between 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.880 white and black people. We take another category, housing equity. 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:01.840 We're seeing that black households chilled, some improved, but we're 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:07.159 also seeing a gap with respect to home equity, whether 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.120 black people actually have the ability to purchase homes and 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:14.960 hold onto those homes. We're seeing existing and exacerbating disparities. 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:17.880 So what I would say to your question is, we 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:20.919 have to think about the centuries of systemic discrimination in 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:25.359 public policy and financial practices, in societal norms that have 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.840 hindered our ability to acquire black wealth. And it's all 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:34.480 of our individual and collective responsibilities to address that, not 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:38.160 only through structural reforms, but also our individual actions. 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:40.880 So I'm going to ask this a different way. You're 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.880 saying it's not okay, then to be comfortable with your 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:46.679 little salary taking care of you and your little house. 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:49.240 Is that safe to say? 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:52.520 That is safe to say? You know that is safe 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:57.960 to say because you know, I have to often think 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:01.360 about the work that I do and why I continue 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:03.400 to do with what motivates me to do this work, 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.919 And I often think back to our ancestors and the 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:11.960 folks that were killed, that were murdered in order for 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.320 us to be in the position that we're in. So 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:20.240 just putting that lens on and thinking about the responsibility 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:24.080 that we have to further advance the interests of marginalized 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:29.120 communities and specifically black people. Not only do we owe 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:32.520 it to ourselves, but the systems that we operate in 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.680 were intentionally created to oppress us. So you're either going 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.160 to be subjugating yourself to a process and a system 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.360 that exists to oppress you, or you're going to work 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:48.800 to overcome those systems collectively as a community and also individually. 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:50.760 I like that. I like that. 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:55.720 So when you think about black entrepreneurship in those even 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:00.240 using technology or building technology black entrepreneurship, what, in your 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.640 opinion are some of the most pressing issues and concerns 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:04.480 facing us. 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:08.400 Well, I think what you would hear most often from 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.200 folks that operate in these spaces is acsets to capital, 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:15.960 access to capital, access to capital, access to capital. We 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.560 have black entrepreneurs all over the world, all over this country, 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:24.560 often facing challenges in accessing access to startup capital, including 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:28.920 venture capital funding. You may know this, Black women, women 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:33.400 of color business founders received only zero point zero three 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:36.920 eight percent of venture capital dollars. So to put that 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.240 in context, two hundred and eighty eight billion dollars is 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:45.199 allocated each year through the venture capital infrastructure, and of 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.160 the two hundred and eighty eight billion dollars, only zero 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:52.400 point three eight percent those are women of public. That 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:54.280 is something that should be alarming to all of us. 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:56.120 So if you want to start your own business and 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:59.400 you're looking for investors, you're looking for people to actually 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.920 support you and grow that business, it's going to be 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:05.400 difficult for you to find that in the current infrastructure. 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.840 So access to capital is incredibly important and one of 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:11.800 the main obstacles that we face. The second I would 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:16.559 say is market access and contracts. Black owned technology companies 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:23.280 often encounter challenges in securing contracts and assessing markets dominated 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:27.240 by large or more established firms, so they have to 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.160 overcome those barriers every single day. And we have to 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:34.400 think about how we foster supply diversity initiatives. What I 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:36.880 mean by that for those who may not know, you know, 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.280 if I run a company, I usually I'm in the 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:42.559 business also of buying products and services. If I'm buying 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:46.040 products and services and I'm only buying products and services 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:50.520 from non black people or non people of color, that's 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.800 going to exacerbate the problem. So this idea of market 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.319 access and contracts is incredibly important. And I would say 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:03.040 another challenge is global digital divide. You know, digital inclusion 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:07.360 efforts like ensuring access to soft and hard infrastructure can 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:11.440 really help bridge the digital divide from marginalized communities, but 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:14.920 that's often quite difficult to do because we don't have 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.240 access to it. And then I would say, finally, we're 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:23.280 talking about building collaborative infrastructures and systems, and we don't 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.199 have that ability in many cases because we're excluded from 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:30.079 the process. So bringing together stakeholders from government, from industry, 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.000 from the non for profit sector to help create a 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:36.800 supportive ecosystem for black entrepreneurs in tech is also I 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:38.160 think a significant barrier. 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:41.360 I'm so glad you mentioned contracting because I want to 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:43.719 ask you about that and because you teed that up. 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:46.440 You know, outside of what I do here, I have 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:49.240 a small business also, and we've been as several times. 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:54.360 You know, we participate in bidding processes and typically I 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:58.920 would avoid that because the barrier to just complete the applications, 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.000 particularly when we talking about governments and whether it's local, 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.360 municipal government or federal. Forget federal, that's a whole other beast. 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.480 But I'm just like, you know, it'll take me a 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:14.040 month just to respond and then you got to try 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.600 to win it, you know, so you'll spend forty eighty, 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:19.920 you know, one hundred and twenty hours just trying to 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:24.480 respond to an RFP and then may not even get it. 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:27.240 So how do small businesses, particularly black owned small businesses, 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:30.520 position themselves? And I guess I'm phrasing that in a 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.560 way of is it designed that way to keep us 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:36.720 out because they know we can't spend the time to 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:37.160 do this. 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.480 Yeah, you know, I had the privilege of serving in 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.400 government for twelve years, and I had the privilege of 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.920 serving as Council to the governor of New York, the 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:50.600 first black man to have that rule. And you think 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.280 of the State of New York being a progressive place. 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:56.520 I happen to have the privilege of serving as the 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:00.560 first black person, black man, I should say to service 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:03.400 counselors for the governor. There were black women that served 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:06.600 in that role, but unfortunately I remain the only black 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.400 man to serve in that role. And when I served 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.240 in that role, I had again the privilege of drafting 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:17.400 and working on legislation that included the Minority and Women 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.400 Owned Business Program. So this is a program that exists 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.040 in New York and other parts of the country. The 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:28.320 goal is to increase opportunities for minority contractors and women 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.520 contractors to get business with the State of New York, 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:35.560 and that exists in many other parts of the country. Now, 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:39.720 to your point, the systems, I believe were created in 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:43.160 such a burdensome way that it makes it difficult for 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:46.040 people just to go through the application process. And when 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.160 I was there, one of the key goals that I 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:52.319 had was how do we demystify this process and how 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:54.520 do we make it simpler. Now you were here on 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:57.480 the other side, people say, well, we need to keep 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:01.400 this process as is, because what can learned about fraud. 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:07.280 That's the argument why these programs that the application process 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:10.360 is so difficult, is they argue that we need to 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:14.600 make sure that we eliminate or reduce or address fraud. 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.800 And I would say that obviously is a legitimate concern. 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:21.079 So what they say about yeah, exactly, that. 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:24.760 May be a legitimate concern. But what you can't answer 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.880 for me is why of the billions of dollars we 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:32.240 have allocated out in contracting, only point x percent are 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:36.400 going to black and brown people? Why is that? And 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:38.680 no one was able to answer that question, which is 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:43.160 why I worked with a large and very talented team 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:47.720 in advancing that legislation but also breaking down the barriers 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:50.640 to entry for people right, making sure that it was 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.160 easier for people to get those contracts, and also importantly 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:58.680 holding the agencies accountable right because in many of these cases, 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:03.120 the agencies could grant what's called waivers if they couldn't 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.600 find a minority contractor or a woman contractor, they would 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.000 grant a waiver to a white owned business to do 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:11.719 the work. And what we did when I was in 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:16.560 government is eliminate that waiver process so that it went 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.680 through an additional review process that agencies didn't have the 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:22.960 right just to grant those waivers. And I think that's 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.440 what we need in many parts of the country, is 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:30.160 additional accountability efforts to make sure that market access and 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.920 contracts are actually available to black entrepreneurs who are seeking 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.880 to do business with government agencies around the country. 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:37.800 Yeah, I love that. 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:40.360 One of the things that we don't talk about, I 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:44.360 think enough, you know, on this podcast, is addiction. And 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:46.440 we talk about mental health, we talk about things like that, 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:49.320 but we don't talk about addiction, particularly in technology often 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:55.120 and even instrumental in creating treatment centers for addiction and etc. 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:59.760 And even advancing economic empowerment through policy. And I wonder, like, 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:04.400 what are the wrap arounds or the rap rounds that 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:08.520 should be there, or the broken bridges between mental health, 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:12.480 addiction and financial stability. So, like it was, we don't 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:15.440 correlate those two often enough in our community. 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:21.280 There is a direct relationship between financial instability and mental 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:25.480 health and addiction. We have a huge mental health crisis 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:29.200 in this country that often gets ignored, and you see 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:32.800 it exacerbated in large cities. Right if you live in 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.360 a large city like New York City or Los Angeles. 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.720 You may see evidence of mental health on the streets, 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.280 and in some cases not all, but in some cases 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:47.760 reflected to people who are homeless, and we're not addressing 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:52.480 that issue sufficiently. In states and cities around the country, 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:57.400 Underserved communities, including low income neighborhoods and communities of color, 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:02.600 disproportionately experience and what we call social determinants of health, 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:07.880 and that really contributes to mental health challenges and addiction 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:12.080 and financial instability. And if we're not really going to 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:15.040 address the social determinants of health, it makes it a 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.760 lot more difficult for people to get to that place 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:22.000 where they can be financially stable. And our communities face 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:26.360 systemic barriers in addressing health care or accessing as you say, 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:32.640 health care, accessing education, accessing employment opportunities, supportable housing. So, 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.520 you know, folks often like to talk about mental health 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.800 in a vacuum, but it has to be directly tied 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:44.640 to healthcare, education, employment, and housing. If I can't afford 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:48.520 an apartment, I'm more than likely won't be able to 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:52.000 sustain a job. And if I have a mental health 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:56.040 challenge and it's not treated, that's going to affect my 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:59.320 ability to get a job or to hold on to 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:04.119 a home, and that perpetuates into a vicious cycle of poverty. 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:08.000 So I had the privilege of helping to create an 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:11.640 addiction treatment center in Los Angeles that was and remains 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:15.160 quite successful. And I think we need more of that work, 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.840 and we need more focus on those areas because we 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:21.720 tend to disaggregate them and think of poverty and mental 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.760 health in one bucket and then financial stability in another. 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.760 Yeah, you've had an incredible story. I want to talk 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.399 about a Flanso for a second, just the man, you know, 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:35.639 the human Talk about mentorship that you've received, and you know, 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.040 what are some of the most important lessons you've learned. 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.919 I've got the privilege of working with and for some 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:47.760 incredible people who took the time to invest in me. 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.480 And before I even talk about my professional life, I'll 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:57.920 just talk about my family. Yeah, you know, my parents, 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:03.040 my uncles, my aunts, my that have taken the time 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:06.600 and continue to take the time to pour energy and 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:13.280 love and attention into me and for me, and that 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:18.280 serves as a foundation in a building block for creating 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:23.280 the person that I am today. You know, when folks 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:26.480 say how did you get to this place, I often say, 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:31.160 not by myself. And I didn't get here alone right 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:34.719 If my parents were not and I used to call 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:39.679 them dictators. If they were not such dictators in making 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:42.639 sure that they pushed us to read and to write 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.480 and to engage in different cultures and different languages, I 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.240 wouldn't have the scope and the perspective that I have today. 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:53.119 And it wouldn't have led me to practice law. It 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.760 wouldn't have led me to do the work that I've done. 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:59.080 But when I got into those professional spaces, I also 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:03.600 found people that invested in me. From Joanne Epps, who 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.000 was the former dean of the Temple Law School where 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.720 I went to law school, or to Clipper Scott Green, 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:13.919 who was the judge that I clerked for, one of 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:19.320 the first black judges on the federal bench. And I 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.159 clerked for him, and one of the things that he 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:24.119 said to me that will always stick with me, he says, 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:29.560 people often arrived at conclusions with too little evidence. And 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.080 he said that to me in the early two thousands 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:34.280 when I clerked for him. And I think about that often, 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:40.000 especially today in an environment where people reach conclusions based 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:44.439 on a tweet without actually understanding the facts and drawing 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:48.560 conclusions about marginalized communities that are in many cases faults. 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:55.040 And that mentorship, in that sponsorship, over the decades that 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:59.439 I've been doing this work, has really helped not only 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:03.040 refer mind my approach and my thinking on a lot 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:07.600 of the work that I do, but also my humanity. 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:10.320 You know, as we become more successful, it's very easy 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:13.159 to forget where you come from. It's very easy to 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:17.280 forget about the person who is less has less opportunities 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:20.760 than you, because you're constantly moving forward and constantly reaching higher. 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:27.680 And another mentor told me very early on, be careful 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.439 who you are kind to on your way up. You 0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:35.000 may meet them on your way down. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:38.520 And I often think about that ladder because we, yes, 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.439 we have highs and lows in our lives, and we 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:44.119 always have to think about the humanity that we that 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:47.439 we exhibit in how we communicate with people, how we 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:49.840 treat people, and how we live our lives. 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:51.240 I love that. 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:55.040 And you know, one of the things that your work 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:59.080 makes me think about the humanity and DEI work and 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:04.320 it's under attack today, and specifically I want to talk 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:07.320 about having access to these opportunities like you know, I'm 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:09.439 on a college board, I'm chair of the board at 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:12.359 the at a university, and we're faced with you know, 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:16.240 we can't even ask questions about you know, what's your background. 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:20.000 You know, when you talk about scholarshiping or donors who 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:24.119 specifically designated their dollars for black students, we can't do 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:26.560 that today. And that's across the country and in so 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:29.479 many other places. Venture capital firms who were set up 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:32.200 for black people are having challenges and doing this. 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:33.600 What do we do? 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:37.119 What do we do to ensure we still have you know, 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:40.440 distribution channels for opportunity. 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:43.960 So I think there are a few things that we 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:48.720 should do. First. I think we need to understand the landscape. 0:21:49.119 --> 0:21:52.600 That is the enough. What I mean by that is 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:59.399 a permanive option in d and I exists for white people. 0:22:00.840 --> 0:22:06.040 It is called nepotism and it is called legacy. 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:07.560 Yeah. Yeah. 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.679 When I was in law school, Danny Reno, who was 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:15.160 the former Attorney General, came and spoke about affirmative action, 0:22:15.240 --> 0:22:17.560 and she said, I am a product of affirmative action. 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:21.840 Why because either her father or an uncle or someone 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:26.200 knew someone at the university that she was ultimately accepted 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:29.280 into and we don't call it affirmative action, but that's 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:35.600 what it is. It is sanctioned nepotism and sanctioned promotional 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:39.440 opportunities for those who are white or who are not black. 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:43.480 So let's understand the landscape. We need to understand that 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:47.520 is nepotism and legacy, and that has existed for decades 0:22:47.560 --> 0:22:53.480 and continue to perpetuate this system of inequality. So that's first. Second, 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:59.240 I think ensuring access to opportunities for historically underserved and 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:07.320 marginalized groups requires advocacy. It requires policy reform, it requires 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:12.040 community engagement, and it requires an ongoing commitment to the 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:15.720 principles that we call DNI. Right, so we have to 0:23:15.800 --> 0:23:18.960 make sure that we're willing to advocate for the idea 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:22.800 of diversity, equity and inclusion, because what is the alternative. 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:27.800 The alternative is that we are accepting institutions being non 0:23:27.920 --> 0:23:32.320 diverse and non inclusive, we are accepting workplaces being non 0:23:32.400 --> 0:23:36.760 diverse and non inclusive. We are accepting that we are 0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:42.879 less than Ultimately by refusing to commit to DNI and 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:46.400 the principles undergirden DNI, what we're saying is that we're 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:49.359 less than and we know we're not right. We know 0:23:49.440 --> 0:23:53.119 we're not There is no reason why many of these 0:23:53.200 --> 0:23:56.040 boardrooms are not diverse. You can't tell me you cannot 0:23:56.160 --> 0:23:58.920 find a qualified black or brown person to serve on 0:23:58.960 --> 0:24:01.760 a board. You can't find a qualified black a brown 0:24:01.800 --> 0:24:04.600 person to serve as a CEO. You can't find a 0:24:04.680 --> 0:24:07.120 qualified black a brown person to work in your law firm. 0:24:08.119 --> 0:24:12.040 So the advocacy, the policy performed, the community engagement, the 0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:15.480 ongoing commitment to D and I principles are incredibly important 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:21.000 and understanding the landscape that nepotism is really another word 0:24:21.160 --> 0:24:25.880 for affirmative action. Legacy is another word for affirmative action, 0:24:26.400 --> 0:24:29.280 and we need to understand how all of those principles 0:24:29.359 --> 0:24:32.760 coincide with the pushback that we're getting. Now. We're seeing 0:24:32.880 --> 0:24:36.119 that there's been a lot of progress or some progress 0:24:36.200 --> 0:24:40.200 in education, in business, in finance, and now it's being dismantled. 0:24:40.520 --> 0:24:44.080 And we have to fight against that dismantling of affirmative action, 0:24:44.320 --> 0:24:47.680 against D and I, against inclusive policies because they will 0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:49.359 directly affect all of us. 0:24:50.000 --> 0:24:51.040 So it helped me make sense. 0:24:51.080 --> 0:24:54.680 It is because if you look at qualified studies, you 0:24:54.720 --> 0:24:58.320 know if you have diverse people, you do better in business. 0:24:58.880 --> 0:25:03.600 Those are facts you make more money, which is what 0:25:03.880 --> 0:25:06.400 we are in the belief of like, that's what they want. 0:25:06.480 --> 0:25:08.200 They want to make more money, they want more power, 0:25:08.320 --> 0:25:13.240 more influence. And so if I show you, businessman, business 0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:16.159