IAhead of a historic election season and a time when Republicans have repeatedly called Vice President Kamala Harris the “DEI candidate,” TIME and the WK Kellogg Foundation hosted a dinner and panel discussion on Martha’s Vineyard titled “Expanding Equity: The Power of Purposeful Leadership.”
Editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs interviewed three women of color in leadership roles at prominent companies about how they foster a culture of inclusion and how they try to help other people and companies make the same impact. The evening, which took place at a private home, also included a moving performance by Deon Jones.
Chef JJ Johnson, founder of fast-casual chain Field Trip and the mastermind behind the dinner menu, opened the event with memories of growing up with very personal conversations at his grandmother’s dinner table. He pointed out that dinners are the perfect time to talk about equity because food is a great equalizer: Everyone needs to eat. “Let’s think about the power of food to unite people,” he told a room of about 50 people. “We could create a future where everyone has a seat at the table.”
And indeed, the panelists got personal right away. La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the WK Kellogg Foundation, the company that presented TIME’s event, said she was one of 10 children and the daughter of an auto worker who moved from Clarksdale, Mississippi, to Detroit, Michigan, as part of the Great Migration. Marissa Solis, senior vice president of global brand and consumer marketing for the National Football League (NFL), said she was an immigrant from Mexico City who grew up in South Texas, so she was deeply touched by issues of border policy. And Arian Simone, CEO and co-founder of Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm focused on supporting women of color, said she was inspired by her grandmother, who, while working as a domestic worker, one day asked her client’s financial advisor where to invest her money and ended up owning three homes and a solid stock and bond portfolio.
Jacobs asked Solis how the NFL measures its impact on society. Solis talked about the league’s efforts to help fans register to vote and then urge them to vote on Election Day. Internally, she talked about how much more diverse the NFL has become over the years, explaining that the league is majority diverse, that 51% of the organization is made up of women and people of color, and that there are nine head coaches of color, eight general managers of color and seven club presidents of color. She talked about how the league has programs that connect employees — mostly women and people of color — with influential economic players in the NFL, and that those efforts have resulted in “a transformation” internally.
Tabron added that more than half of the WK Kellogg Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping at-risk children succeed, are people of color. People of color make up 60% of the board, and 60% of the portfolio is executives of color. A big focus of the foundation since the pandemic and protests for racial justice following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020 is recruiting, retaining and promoting people of color — and helping other companies do the same work. “We’re now working with nearly 200 companies and over 800 executives who have all come together to say, ‘This work starts at home. How do we create an environment of belonging in our own institutions?'” Tabron said.
The Fearless Fund, the country’s first venture capital firm run by women of color, has recently made national headlines. In June, a Florida appeals court ruled that one of the Fearless Fund’s scholarship programs for black women violated civil rights law. The case was brought by Edward Blum, the conservative activist behind the cases that led to the Supreme Court declaring all college admissions policies that consider race as a factor unconstitutional. When Jacobs asked her to comment on how the organization is faring in the face of legal challenges, Simone emphasized that Blum wanted to shut down her entire fund and was unsuccessful. In fact, the challenge has only encouraged her to work to ensure that more such funds can legally exist. More “fearless” Medium”, she said.
As Jacobs opened the discussion to questions from the audience, Alicia Williams, head of diversity, equity and inclusion at Saks, asked the panelists how they stay motivated when diversity, equity and inclusion work is so grueling. Solis said her 19-year-old daughter is her guiding light: “I want this world to be better for her, and that’s what gets me up every day.”
The TIME Impact Dinner “Expanding Equity: The Power of Purposeful Leadership” was presented by the WK Kellogg Foundation.
