WEBVTT - Being Black on Wall Street: A Bloomberg Radio Special 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:06.640 This is a Bloomberg Radio special, Being Black on Wall Street. 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:12.640 I'm Shnai Bassk. Over the next hour, we explore what 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:15.280 it means to be black in the white world of finance. 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:17.960 You know, Wall Street, it's a close society and it's 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.160 very hard to get in and stay. You were going 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:22.439 to have to be comfortable in some cases being the 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:25.439 only and being the first. So many of us have 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:30.360 gone there with the hopes of achieving success, the setbacks 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.440 on the stereotypes space within the walls of Wall Street. 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:35.880 I said, you've got three strikes against you. You're young, 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:38.559 you're a woman, and you're black. And you told me 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:42.080 point blank that Boman Sex wouldn't hire me. I wanted 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:45.320 to achieve the American dream, and I encountered issues that 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:49.360 held me back. And as the calls for change grow louder, 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.519 what it will take for the industry to finally reform. 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:54.720 You know, we've made progress in the law stake, but 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:56.760 we're not where we want to be. We're not satisfied. 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:00.520 People just saying enough and they're taking a stay. George 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:03.480 Floyd when we saw him bird in a public leg 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:05.680 you can't un see it. And I think the whole 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.240 country has woken up to say things have to change. 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:12.920 That's all straight ahead on this Bloomberg Radio special. Being 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:21.320 black on Wall Street, even after hundreds of years, black executives, traders, 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.000 and investment bankers on Wall Street are rare. As of June, 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:28.240 there were more than eighty executives at the biggest US 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:32.520 banks and only one was black. The numbers are similar 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.160 at the biggest private equity and hedge fund firms, where 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:39.040 pay on Wall Street is the highest. Wall Street matters 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:40.840 both in the way it hires and the way it 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:44.679 picks its clients. Wall Street matters because it's the most 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:48.200 prominent vehicle of wealth in this country, and people of 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:51.280 color have been left behind in a big way. Black 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:55.200 homeownership is a fraction of white homeownership, and many Black 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:59.040 communities are left without banking services, and the biggest banks 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:03.480 have fallen behind. University efforts. Zannelia Harris has worked all 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:07.640 across Wall Street, from Nazdak to City Group, Edward Jones 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:11.440 and Panty. In every scenario, she found it hard to 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:15.639 build relationships. So many of us have gone there with 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:22.040 the hopes of achieving success to the to then be UH, 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:26.760 to then deal with UH. The harsh reality of not 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:29.639 being able to reach the levels that we've seen our 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:33.120 white counterparts reach. And that has been disheartening for me 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.880 because I wanted to succeed. You know, when I came 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.359 out of college, my goal was to UM to to 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:44.280 achieve the American dream. I wanted to achieve the American dream. 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:48.280 And I felt that pursuing an opportunity in the finance 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:53.040 UH field would be my ticket to achieving a certain 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:57.600 level of success. But I encountered um some issues that 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:02.399 held me back. Those issues can take many forms. Sometimes 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:06.399 it's being shut out of high level conversations. Sometimes it's 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:11.200 clients gravitating towards bankers they know through existing networks. Breaking 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:15.360 into finance in any meaningful way can be hard without connections. 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:19.400 Lauren Simmons was only the second black woman to become 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:22.000 an equity trader at the New York Stock Exchange in 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.919 the two hundred twenty five year history of the trading floor. 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:31.240 That breakthrough happened just three years ago in I, you know, 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:34.840 came from Georgia. I decided, you know, I really wanted 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:37.160 to live in New York. That's very much a mindset 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:39.800 after you graduate New Yorker l A and for me, 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:42.280 I was open to opportunity. I end up meeting a 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.600 gentleman who worked for Golden Sacks. He was African American, 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:49.000 and he told me point blank that, you know, Goldman 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.320 Sacks wouldn't hire me, and he didn't really give me 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.720 any clarity as to the reason why, UM, but he 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:59.520 said that he would UM introduced me to a colleague 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:01.600 that worked the New York Stock Exchange and would i'd 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:05.400 be interested in equity trading position. And of course, for me, 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:08.160 I was thinking, you know, minimumly, this will be a 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:11.520 great opportunity to work for the New York Stock Exchange. 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:15.040 While Lauren was the second in her field, Reggie Brown 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:17.880 was the first. When he joined the New York Stock 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.960 Exchange in the nineties, he was the first and only 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:25.000 black exchange official. For him, it was a challenge rising 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:30.520 through the ranks. Historically, the floor businesses were always family run, 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:34.640 family based businesses, you know. It was large groups of 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:39.000 family members owning the specialist firms or trading firms, and 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:44.120 through that you had, you know, windows of opportunity for 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.160 people to entry into the business, you know, And there 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.400 were several people like me that that we're able to 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:52.840 get in, but Reggie found his way to the top. 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.960 Now he's known as the godfather of exchange traded funds. 0:04:57.400 --> 0:04:59.880 He's a principal at one of the largest market make 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.880 is on the New York Stock Exchange. But to get 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:07.040 there he had to overcome overt racism. There was some recognition, 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:11.440 I think of my talents, but also where I stood 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:14.520 in a hierarchy. You know. I remember when I first 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:16.520 came up of the Stock Exchange. I sat in the 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.720 member's lounge and a ninety year old member of the 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:22.720 Exchange I didn't believe I belonged there, and cleared his 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.600 throat and told me to go, and I showed him, hey, 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:29.040 you know, I have a badge too, you know. Moving 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.640 from Phildelphia to New York and inserted myself into the 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:38.000 New York business community, there were interesting moments around just 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:41.760 being accepted, people understanding, you know, I'm here and you 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:44.640 got to deal with it. People have called me the 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:47.680 end word to my face. Um in the workplace. You know, 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:50.839 people didn't know I was real for what I do 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.920 for a living and was challenged and so you are real, 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.720 you do you actually do what you do, you know, 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:59.719 But I think anyone gets that sometimes in your life 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.680 you Wall Street, you know it's a closed society, and 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:05.880 you know it's a meritocracy, and it's very hard to 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.520 get in and stay in. And once you're in environment 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:11.760 sometimes the rough and tumble, it is not very friendly. 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.760 But is that true for everything else alive? It was 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:18.119 a tough journey to the top for the few people 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:21.400 of color who made it there. So far, Wall streets 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.560 efforts to hire black people has fallen short, and the 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.960 industry has also failed to promote most people of color. 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.719 It shows in the numbers less than ten percent of 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.760 middle managers are black. That number falls to less than 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:40.159 five percent in the executive ranks. Being the only person 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.480 of color in the clubby world of finance can be 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:47.039 intimidating for anybody, especially a young person right out of college. 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.240 That's made mentors and advocates more important than ever in 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:54.839 a place with a few and far between. So for 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:58.080 black people on Wall Street, the search for advocates extends 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:02.039 to other industries and rival firms. They found advocates among 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.560 white colleagues and managers who had vouched for them. Carla 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.480 Harris joined Morgan Stanley in the eighties. She was one 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:10.840 of a handful of people of color at the firm 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:13.960 at the time, and often the only one in the room. 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:16.560 It didn't intimidate me because that's kind of the way 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:18.760 it was at that point. So now that and this 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.920 is this is an important point because again, if you're 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:27.480 growing up in my genre excellence, look like six white 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.040 men at the top, right, That wasn't strange at all. 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:32.200 That's what you saw at IBM, That's what you saw 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.760 at GM, that's what you saw at Morgan Stanley Golmus 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.360 actually pick it right. So you knew that if you 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:40.800 wanted to play on this playing field, that's was what 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:42.640 you were You were going to have to be comfortable 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:46.240 in some cases being the only and being the first. 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:49.000 So that was not intimidating to me at all. That's 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:51.000 just the way it was. You know. I would say 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.240 I had three strikes against me. Here's what I said 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.640 to myself as a first year and second year associate. 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:57.920 I said, you've got three strikes against you. You're young, 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:02.640 you're woman, and your black. Carla recognized the importance of 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.640 building relationships early on. In her first performance review as 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:10.240 an associate, it left her realizing there weren't many managers 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.360 in her corner. She was also working for someone that 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.680 didn't see her potential. She had graduated from Harvard twice, 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:21.120 both for her bachelor's and then her master's degree. I 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:25.440 was working for somebody that was really, really tough, and 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:30.800 they instead of affirming me, they always made me feel like, 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:33.280 you know, perhaps I didn't learn a lot enough that 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.640 Harvard Business School. Perhaps I wasn't cut out for this business. 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:40.160 So I would say, um, my interactions with this person 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.000 and I worked on a lot of stuff with this 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.600 person really under my my own confidence. And it wasn't 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:49.800 until I say that my confidence was completely busted. You 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.400 had said your name is Carla Harris, I would have said, 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:56.520 are you sure right? My confidence was that busted that 0:08:56.520 --> 0:09:00.560 that sort of bottom floor was the actual turning point 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.000 for me. It was sort of getting as deep as 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:05.480 I could in that valley where I started saying, wait 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:08.600 a minute, Wait a minute, how why would I doubt 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.880 that I could do X when my track worker says 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:15.040 I've done X, Y and Z. Wait a minute, Is 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.240 it that I'm not that good? Or is it that 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.319 that person really can't teach me? So I started looking 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.280 through a different lens and realized that I had the 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:28.120 power to also say no, Moss, I'm not working for 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.320 this person anymore. Carlo was able to find her own 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:35.160 path in the industry. She networked with other associates, found 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:38.720 better managers and a mentor, a black woman who rose 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:42.319 to the top of a company outside of the financial industry. 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.439 For Reggie Brown, the climb to the top followed another path. 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:48.520 He took pride and ownership of his spot as the 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.239 only one in the room at the New York Stack Exchange. 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:56.480 I've always saw race as an attribute because I realized 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:58.719 that a lot of times I was the only one 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:01.240 in the room or I stood out because I was 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:04.640 six five a black dude, And everyone remarked in that 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:09.120 because it was such a unique thing to be an 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.440 environment that I was in. And so through ambition and 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:18.000 talent and drive, I created my opportunities, and there's opportunities 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:21.040 were asking, you know, the economy putts along the way. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:25.320 One of the most impactful experiences that I've I've had 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:28.760 where I gave a presentation to the Bank of Japan 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.920 um sitting governors of the Bank on household This was 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.640 two and a half years ago. Household inclusion of Japanese 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:40.679 households into the Japanese stock market and competition and marketplace 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:45.200 by introducing ets and what at a risk. And after 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.760 the presentation, there's about thirty people in the room, so 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:51.680 it was it was a private session with three voting 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:58.400 members and their staff members. And after the my presentation 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.720 at the Bank of Japan and Tokyo, you know how 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:04.839 they do the typical bow. So impactful to me, and 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:10.040 it was so unique that UM actually stood it here. 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:15.120 You know, that was impactful. Having my grandparents be able 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.839 to come to the New York Soccer Change lunching Club 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:20.800 when it was a lunching club and have men and 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:25.080 white coats serve my grandparents and having the significance of 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:29.120 them being there in that environment for them to see 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:34.040 Um that you know, I had a place there was 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:39.119 impactful for them in particular. Well, Reggie stayed in the industry. 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:43.000 Zanalia Harris ultimately stopped working at large banks after she 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.840 lost her job at Mary Lynch during the financial crisis. 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:49.360 She then struck out on her own, writing a book, 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:53.400 becoming an industry leading financial advisor and building programs for 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:56.720 a woman to expand their wealth in her neighborhood in 0:11:56.760 --> 0:11:59.920 the suburbs of Washington, d C. She says large bank 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:04.079 have largely failed her community. I live in a predominantly 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.480 black community, and when I look around that community, I 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:12.800 don't see representation from Wall Street there. So what I 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.120 have seen over the years is that they've come into 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.640 my community. UM, I felt like they came in, they 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:21.840 didn't stay long, they didn't work within the community, and 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:24.880 then they left. And so that was the reason why 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.640 I started my own I wanted to serve my community. 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.000 I wanted to be I wanted to be active in 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:34.200 my community, and I wanted to see wealth built in 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.160 my community. So some of the you know, do I 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:41.000 feel that this what I'm hearing from Wall Street and 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:44.280 what I'm hearing right now amongst companies, whether or not 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:49.200 they want to support us and help elevate us so 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.560 that we can um achieve a level of success. What 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:57.839 would make that authentic for me is seeing at the 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:01.040 executive level, and I'm talking about in C suite, seeing 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.959 people of color. Um, they're represented as we know, UM 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.600 the Fortune five hundred companies have no Black women as 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:13.080 um as CEOs. So when I see change, and one 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:15.200 of the things that I've heard over the years is Oh, 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.079 there isn't a pipeline. I don't understand what that means, 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:22.240 because UM, in my community, I see a plethora of 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:28.599 highly educated UM African Americans who are ambitious, who are zoous, 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:32.360 who are um want to make a difference. So I 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.720 don't that there's a big disconnect with whether or not 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:39.160 there's a pipeline. There is a pipeline. Zanalia Harris is 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.720 not alone and saying Wall Street has left her community behind, 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:46.240 both as employees and as clients. When it comes to 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:50.400 accessing financial services, Government data shows that black people are 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:54.040 less likely to access home loans and credit cards. The 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.680 number of black owned banks in America has declined to 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.960 just twenty one firms two decades ago there were four 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:04.160 already eight Black ownership and stock markets is drastically behind 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:08.400 white ownership. In fact, black people own less than five 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:18.440 per cent of the stock market. Wall Street is a 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:21.480 story of both hope and disappointment for people of color. 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:25.280 The top ranks are so white that black people, who 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:30.640 often encounter bias, often choose to work elsewhere. Lauren Simmons 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.160 left her job at the New York Stock Exchange just 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:37.280 a few years after joining. She appreciated her time there, 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.160 but ultimately the juice was not always worth the squeeze. 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:45.080 She now has two TV shows in development, a podcast, 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:47.680 and a book in the works. The reality is I 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:50.520 was only making twenty dollars working at the New York 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:53.640 Stock Exchange. That's not enough to even breathe in New 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.720 York City. If I had to do it again, I 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.800 still had the mentality that if I worked for the 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:02.400 New York Stock Exchange, this would be a great foundation 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:06.000 to lead to better opportunities. And of course it did, 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.800 but I don't think that is the story for many 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.080 people you know that come to the New York Stock Exchange. 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.240 You know, most people under the age of thirty, they 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:16.640 do come to the trading floor thinking that this is 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.720 going to be a platform or a gay way to 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:23.640 other great opportunities. And the reality is that equity traders 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:28.640 are slowly, slowly, slowly dwindling. And the job itself is 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:32.440 you know, algorithms and way more passive. So the opportunities 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.800 that you would get once before just aren't there for 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.800 financial reasons. No, I don't think I would come back, 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.040 and I don't think I would, you know, advocate for 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.440 people to go to the trading floor, but I do think, 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.560 you know, being in a space within the financial industry 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:49.360 and getting paid what your worth. I would definitely tell 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:51.600 people to go out and do that. But I do 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:56.680 think the lack of diversity over decades um, anything past 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:00.880 two thousand anything, is unfortunate. And I do think that 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:04.000 we will see a lot of especially gen Zer Is 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:07.520 just creating their own firms and they're going to make 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:12.840 diversity and inclusion a top priority. While Lauren left Wall Street, 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:17.560 Carla Harris stayed she found a fulfilling career at Morgan Stanley, 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:21.880 but also recognizes serious flaws in the industry. She says, 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:25.360 if Wall Street doesn't change, at risks turning away the 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.880 best talent, with people of color turning to different industries 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:32.360 or striking out on their own. And for younger generations, 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.520 diversity is becoming more important than ever. What I've been 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.520 saying to companies that I get an opportunity to consult 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:44.320 with these days is that excellence looks very different for millennials. 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:48.160 Zers they have a mother that has been a CEO 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.120 or an executive director of a major nonprofit. They have 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:54.480 seen women lead, and they've gone to these elite schools 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.000 where on their left is a smart Black kid, on 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:59.200 the right is the smartest spanning kid in front of 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:02.320 them as smarty kid. Behind them a smart American Indian kid, 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:08.280 and they are all outstanding. So that's what excellence looks like. 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.679 Two millennials and zers. And if you do not have 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:16.200 that represented in your leadership, they are not that interested 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:18.919 in being a part of that organization. There's a large 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.399 camp of people pushing banks to start recruiting outside of 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:26.560 IVY League ranks at historically black colleges and in cities 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:30.880 they haven't considered before. But Lauren Simmons says that might 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.159 be hard for firms after decades of doing things the 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:37.320 same way. Yeah, they're gonna have to be okay with 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:43.359 putting themselves in different scenarios. Obviously, how their recruiting process 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:47.600 over years, centuries has not worked to get different type 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.120 of talent, and so they're gonna have to go out 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:54.160 to They can, you know, find people in New York, 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:56.840 they can find people in Middle America. But they're going 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.000 to have to stop with the traditional going to IVY 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:03.399 leagues and and picking from a certain demographic and and 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.520 as well as talent trying to apply for jobs They're 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:09.719 going to have to put themselves in uncomfortable situations and 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:14.040 go beyond their mind and be able to apply for 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.360 jobs that are outside of their comfort zone. There are 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:22.680 executives like Henry Travis, founder of legendary private equity firm KKR, 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:26.240 who believe it could take generations for Wall Street to 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:30.480 make its ranks more diverse. Zannelia Harris sees an untapped 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:34.000 talent source in her decades and finance. She says Wall 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.359 Street could look to other industries to fill its top ranks, 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:42.679 look at people who are transitioning into other opportunities. Because 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:46.520 I also feel like we always go back to getting 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:50.040 people out of college. But as I stated, we need 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:54.119 people in executive level. What about pulling people from other 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:58.840 industries who have the management skilled, the leadership skills UM 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.760 that can be trained position into the financial services industry 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.399 easily easily. UM. So, I think that it needs to 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:10.680 be a two fold recruitment not just from college students 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:15.080 but also from upper level management and transition them, transitioning 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:19.120 them into the financial services industry. Those are two things 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:24.480 that I think should be connected. After years of failing 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:27.639 to improve on diversity and its ranks, Wall Street is 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:32.800 grappling with how to make lasting change. Black Americans make 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.879 up more than of the US population, but the top 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.520 ranks of corporate America look nothing like the country. It serves. 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:45.080 Elite roles that financial firms are overwhelmingly white, and the 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:49.320 problem starts at the top, but middle management also lacks diversity. 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:53.480 Banks and money managers don't only fail to recruit diverse employees, 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:58.080 they also failed to promote them. Now, many people of 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:01.000 color on Wall Street are speaking about race for the 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:05.080 first time in their careers. That's the case for Reggie Brown, 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:08.399 the so called godfather of e t S, says the 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:12.399 death of George Floyd, followed by protests across the country, 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:18.080 was the real catalyst. You know, seeing um George Floyd 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.120 being murdered by Ay Coop with his hands in his pocket. 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:25.520 You know, it's just morally reprehensible, you know. And I 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:29.280 think because we're all at home, working at home from COVID, 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:33.119 everyone had opportunity to kind of focus on it. And 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:37.240 I think what's different is I think there's more people 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:43.080 of color in their agency to speak freely about these issues. 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:47.959 After George Floyd's death, Mark Mason, the chief financial officer 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:50.840 at City group, and the only black executive at a 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:53.760 top six bank at the time, wrote to his firms 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:57.400 more than two hundred thousand employees. It was a tough 0:20:57.440 --> 0:21:00.159 decision for him to speak out, but he said he 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:05.160 had to confront racism, that they all had to confront racism. 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:07.879 His words set off a wave of remarks from black 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:12.320 executives across Wall Street that in turn created a dialogue 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:16.400 in the workplace that few had seen before. Mike Novograts 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:19.960 was a rare white millionaire hedge fund type to walk 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:22.960 in the New York City protests against police brutality and 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:27.560 racial inequality that began in May. Seeing those large groups 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.119 of young people forcing change has compelled him to start 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.639 thinking differently. And I think walking in the protest was 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:39.560 that was telling. It was a rainbow coalition. Uh young, black, brown, 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:44.679 you know, Asian, of white, every race and ethnicity. Uh, 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:47.119 y'all all young. I think I was double the age 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:51.600 of the average participanting. It really felt spectacular and it 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:54.360 was a I think a real recognition in New York. 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:59.119 Uh that things are changing. Uh you can't watch, you know. 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:01.000 I always say people ask me why I got into 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:03.600 criminal justice reform, and one of the biggest reasons. I 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:08.000 met Brian Stevenson, and when you hear his story of 0:22:08.720 --> 0:22:12.400 from slavery to to mass incarceration, and you hear Brian 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:18.399 articulate this, you know, multi hundred year uh process of 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:23.040 having to compressed. You know, African American community, you can't 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:25.240 hear it like you hear the truth, and you can't 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:28.480 on hear it. Well, we saw George Floyd, when we 0:22:28.560 --> 0:22:32.040 saw him murdered in a public legion. You can't un 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:34.080 see it. And I think the whole country has woken 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:37.480 up to say this. Things have to change. Yet Mike 0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:40.159 Novegrats still has a long way to go in his 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:44.639 own hiring practices. He launched a cryptocurrency investment company in 0:22:46.119 --> 0:22:50.440 Galaxy Investment Partners, Yet three years later he has more 0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:55.280 than sixty employees and only two are black. Even wall 0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:58.840 streets upstart firms, the ones with the best opportunities to 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:02.320 hire people of color, are failing to do so. Listen, 0:23:02.440 --> 0:23:06.159 changes top Um. We looked at ourselves and you know, 0:23:06.200 --> 0:23:08.960 we had had a few more African American blacks and 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:11.880 and they left for various reasons. Uh, And so we're 0:23:11.880 --> 0:23:14.840 certainly not doing well enough. I'm committed I told our 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:17.679 our our management, our leadership team that we've got to 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:19.800 do better. We will get a black you know, member 0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:24.000 of awards soon. Um and listen. I made the mistake 0:23:24.480 --> 0:23:27.240 of thinking, hey, we're a startup company and it's it's 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:29.159 harder to start going to start of industry where there 0:23:29.160 --> 0:23:31.520 are not a lot of black resumes and you're going 0:23:31.520 --> 0:23:34.000 as fast as you can. And so almost gave myself 0:23:34.040 --> 0:23:36.840 the excuse that we'll get it there. And that's a mistake. 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:40.119 I raised my hand and say it was a mistake. Uh, 0:23:40.160 --> 0:23:43.000 it's harder. There are a lot of black resumes, and 0:23:43.040 --> 0:23:44.679 so we gotta look a little harder. You've gotta look 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:47.240 in places and are you're not used to looking. And so, 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:51.320 you know, cheers on you for calling me out. Uh, 0:23:51.600 --> 0:23:54.200 We're going to try harder. And that was the case 0:23:54.480 --> 0:23:58.720 even in the best financial market in history. What's challenging 0:23:58.840 --> 0:24:01.439 is that Wall Street has a tendency to slip behind 0:24:01.520 --> 0:24:05.280