New York Urban League (NYUL) Champions of Diversity (COD) Summit: Courageous Conversations about Race, Nov 20, 2020 1 pm EST and week-long access
The New York Urban League (NYUL) will present the Champions of Diversity Virtual Summit, sponsored by BlackRock, on November 20, 2020 at 1:00pm EST and you are invited to become a corporate sponsor and attendee. The Summit will include both a one-hour live event and recorded conversations, featuring corporate CEOs, activists and academics, accessible that day and throughout the week. The program starts with welcoming Remarks by Arva Rice, President & CEO, New York Urban League and Hon. Scott M. Stringer, NYC Comptroller followed by the CEO Roundtable Discussion (35-40 mins), entertainment and Closing Remarks and an Invitation to the “Courageous Conversations about Race” by Ward Corbett, Chairman, New York Urban League Board of Directors.
Once the live portion concludes, registrants will have access to the “Courageous Conversations about Race.”
Participants include:
- Marc Morial, President & CEO, National Urban League
- Ray McGuire, NYC Mayoral Candidate; former Vice Chairman, Citigroup
- Douglas McNeely, Managing Director, Head of the Strategic Client Coverage Group, BlackRock
- Wes Moore, CEO, Robin Hood
- Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Historian, Professor at Harvard Kennedy School and Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies
- John Rogers, Chairman, Co-CEO & Chief Investment Officer, Ariel Investments
- Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation
- James Rhee, Founder and President FirePine Group, Former CEO Ashley Stewart
Opportunities to support NYUL’s work range from single tickets or virtual tables to sponsoring a “conversation” during the Summit or throughout the week-long activities across NYUL social media outlets.
Courageous Conversations About Race
Central to the New York Urban League Diversity Summit on November 20th will be a series of conversations that will feature corporate CEOs, activist and academics. These curated conversations will examine what this moment tells us and how we can create more diverse workplaces as a result. Black leaders will speak with white leaders – who will speak with all of us – about how they have managed this moment, the initiatives they have created, and how we can pave the way forward.
These curated conversations will courageously examine race relations and give an honest critique of the response and responsibility going forward to the civil unrest that has swept the nation.
What Participants Can Learn from Participation
Workplaces are being asked to bring people together across socio-economic backgrounds, race and religion when our neighborhoods and houses of worship are still largely separated sixty years after Brown vs. Board of Education. The work is hard and you are not alone.
The Summit will provide attendees an opportunity to learn how others are creating hiring and advancement programs, how they are creating mechanisms to hear directly from staff about diversity issues, how they are partnering with external partners to diversify their workplace and how to address systemic issues in the community.
The Summit will provide strategies to start and maintain courageous conversations to build businesses, acknowledge staff members and become good corporate citizens.
Why a Diversity Summit in 2020
Corporate America is turning a critical eye toward its diversity, equality and inclusion policies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the civil unrest that’s swept the nation. After George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers in May, many companies came out in support of protesters and pledged renewed commitments to fighting systemic racism. According to an August survey by Royal Bank of Canada, 38% of S&P 500 companies have since announced initiatives and action plans. These include internal policies such as hiring and advancement programs, as well as external efforts including donating to racial justice organizations.
Companies who are not diverse in their hiring from top to bottom are being held accountable by their workforce and their shareholder. A lack of diversity can do real damage to a company. Facebook felt the brunt of accountability this summer when more than 100 companies stopped posting advertisements on the social media site costing the tech giant $7.2 billion in a week (CBNC 8.13.2020).
Why the New York Urban League
The New York Urban has been working in partnership with corporations to challenge them to reflect their customer communities. We have created diversity programs, helped identify board members, identified small businesses for Supplier Diversity Programs, and conducted corporate training. Corporate staff and affinity groups have volunteered in our education, technology, and workforce development programs served on our Board of Directors. For the past 18 years we have honored corporations with exemplary diversity practices.
This Fall we will launch our Diversity & Inclusion Lab. The Diversity & Inclusion Lab will be an incubator for Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives, Recruitment and Best Practices. The Lab will provide a communicative and collaborative space for New York City’s most creative minds, forward thinking companies, premiere colleges and universities and top African American talent to interact. Members will connect on a regular basis to share best practices and access NYUL’s digital platform where employers and employees can connect. The goal of this effort is to make the NYC Workplace one of the most inclusive in the world.
About the New York Urban League
For the past 100 years, we have inspired, influenced and ignited over one million black people to achieve their highest potential. We are committed to elevating the circumstances that create inequalities in the lives of Black New York by headlining the issues and inspiring actions to eradicate them. At our core we believe that INEQUALITY IS UNACCEPTABLE. This guiding principle drives steadfast work of enabling African Americans and other underserved communities to secure equity. Through direct service delivery, advocacy, referrals, community capacity building, information dissemination and technical assistance, the League accomplishes its mission to empower communities and change lives.
Sponsor or Attend the Nov 20th Diversity Summit
CEOs or Diversity Officers of corporate-level Champion Sponsors are invited to provide a 2-minute opening and use their 20 access tickets for their employees or to be given to NYUL Young Professionals. Get involved now while we are still finalizing our program! Sponsorship packages are $12.500, $15,000 and $25,000 for the Glass Ceiling Breaker, Salute to the Honorees and Champion Sponsorships. Single ticket prices are $250 or $350 for a Basic or VIP ticket.
