In July 2020, PolicyLink, FSG, and JUST Capital offered an invitation to corporate America to become agents of equity across all their domains of influence in A CEO Blueprint for Racial Equity. We shared a new pathway for CEOs to lead more equitable businesses and help build an equitable nation for all by reimagining their actions within their four walls, within the communities in which they are situated, and at the societal level.

To fuel the evolution of our work within corporate America, in the months following the release of the Blueprint and in partnership with Paul Shoemaker, a former Microsoft executive and founding president of Social Venture Partners International, we solicited feedback from C-suite leaders across the nation and across a broad range of industries, including retail and consumer products, finance, information technology, health care, media, professional services, hospitality, and philanthropy. Our goal? To understand business leaders’ level of engagement in racial equity work beyond their public statements and key barriers and opportunities for growth. 

Top 7 Takeaways

1. Business leaders have a deeper awareness of “shared complicity” in perpetuating inequity and a greater commitment to listen and learn, but also fear making mistakes in moving forward.

2. Transparency matters now more than ever, underscoring the painful lack of robust data and accountability. 

3. While the moral, business and macroeconomic cases for advancing racial equity have all been made effectively for years, business leaders have not fully embraced all the benefits of advancing racial equity within their workplaces and across society.

4. Many business leaders still believe in or are not equipped to dispel, the false narrative that racial equity work is a zero-sum game. 

5. The ongoing tension between near-term perception and long-term impact, compounded by prevailing mindsets about the nature of equity work, presents a significant barrier to more meaningful change.

6. Smaller businesses feel overwhelmed, in large part because of the misconception that substantial investments of capital and other resources are required to adopt more equitable business practices. 

7. The concepts and language of racial equity are steadily making their way into the business world; however, equity-washing remains a substantial risk.

For more information, visit the Corporate Racial Equity website. 

Developed in partnership with community leaders, chief equity officers, policymakers, economic development practitioners, research and policy organizations, and philanthropic partners, 10 Priorities for Advancing Racial Equity Through the American Rescue Plan: A Guide for City and County Policymakers suggests municipal strategies for deploying ARP funds equitably, efficiently, and strategically.  Additionally, the guide lays out a framework for equitable decision-making around ARP spending and investments with prompts that local leaders can use to not only ask hard questions around racial equity, but also seek to address them.

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed a housing system that is failing millions of low-income people and people of color. Millions of renters of color struggle to pay rent due to loss of income from the pandemic, or because their regular income can’t cover ever-increasing rent costs. Small property owners who control much of the lower rent buildings in cities may not be able to weather extended periods of reduced rental income. At the same time, a number of Wall Street firms have already created special acquisition funds to buy up buildings in financial distress. This crisis has created a new urgency for cities to protect their housing stock through equitable housing acquisition strategies. The potential of significant, new federal funding for affordable housing, along with a growing tenant movement for community ownership of land and housing, has created an unprecedented opportunity for an equitable recovery — but only if cities are ready with the local capacity, policies, and financial tools to move quickly to acquire buildings.

This report details strategies that cities can lead to creating equitable housing outcomes for residents by moving privately owned rental housing into tenant or nonprofit ownership to avoid speculation, promote community control, and create permanently affordable housing. It describes what an equitable housing acquisition strategy is, why cities should implement one now, and what are the local capacity, policy, and finance tools needed.

In the nine-county Bay Area, as in the rest of the nation, deep racial inequities are built into the regional economy. This report, produced in partnership with Burning Glass Technologies, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, and ReWork the Bay, offers a comprehensive analysis of long-standing racial gaps in labor market outcomes, the economic impacts of Covid-19, and the racial equity implications of automation. It provides in-depth, disaggregated data on equity indicators and labor market dynamics, finding that only 47 percent of the region’s workers hold stable jobs, that White workers with only a high school diploma earn higher wages, on average, than Latinx workers with an associate’s degree, and that eliminating racial inequities in income could boost the Bay Area economy by $348 billion a year. Finally, it provides a blueprint for action to advance workforce equity informed by the data and crafted by local leaders. Download the report.

Additional resources:

• Summary data slide deck
• Strategic industry profile (from Burning Glass Technologies)
• Supplementary data tables on automation risk and job quality

Media: New Research Highlights Racial Inequities in the Bay Area Workforce and Makes Actionable Recommendations for Equitable Economic Recovery (PR Newswire)

In the Seattle metropolitan area, as in the rest of the nation, deep racial inequities are built into the regional economy. This report, produced in partnership with Burning Glass Technologies, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, and the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County, offers a comprehensive analysis of long-standing racial gaps in labor market outcomes, the economic impacts of Covid-19, and the racial equity implications of automation. It provides in-depth, disaggregated data on equity indicators and labor market dynamics, finding that only 44 percent of the region’s workers hold good jobs, that White workers with less than a high school diploma earn higher average wages than Black workers with an associate’s degree, and that eliminating racial inequities in income could boost the Seattle metro economy by $33 billion a year. Finally, it provides a blueprint for action to advance workforce equity informed by the data and developed by local leaders. Download the report.

Additional resources:

• Summary data slide deck
• Strategic industry profile (from Burning Glass Technologies)
• Supplementary data tables on automation risk and job quality

Media: New Research Highlights Racial Disparities in the Workforce in Seattle and Makes Actionable Recommendations for Equitable Economic Recovery (PR News Wire)

In Dallas and Collin counties, Texas, as in the rest of the nation, deep racial inequities are built into the regional economy. This report, produced in partnership with Burning Glass Technologies, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, and Pathways to Work at the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, offers a comprehensive analysis of long-standing racial gaps in labor market outcomes, the economic impacts of Covid-19, and the racial equity implications of automation. It provides in-depth, disaggregated data on equity indicators and labor market dynamics, finding that only 40 percent of the region’s workers hold good jobs, that White workers with only a high school diploma earn on average the same wages as Black or Latinx workers with an associate’s degree, and that eliminating racial inequities in income could boost the combined economy of Dallas and Collin counties by $115 billion a year. Finally, it outlines a blueprint for action to advance workforce equity, informed by the data and crafted by local leaders. Download the report.

Additional resources:

• Summary data slide deck
• Strategic industry profile (from Burning Glass Technologies)
• Supplementary data tables on automation risk and job quality

Media: New Research Highlights Racial Disparities in the Workforce in Dallas and Collin Counties and Makes Actionable Recommendations for Equitable Economic Recovery (Yahoo Finance) 

In the Boston metropolitan area, as in the rest of the nation, deep racial inequities are built into the regional economy. This report, produced in partnership with Burning Glass Technologies, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, and SkillWorks, provides a comprehensive analysis of long-standing racial gaps in labor market outcomes, the economic impacts of Covid-19, and the racial equity implications of automation. Our in-depth analysis of disaggregated equity indicators and labor market dynamics found that only 47 percent of the region’s workers hold good jobs, that White workers with only a high school diploma earn on average about 10 percent more than Black workers with an associate’s degree, and that eliminating racial inequities in income could boost the Boston regional economy by almost $45 billion a year. The report concludes with a blueprint for action to advance workforce equity across the region, informed by the data and shaped by local leaders. Download the report.

Additional resources:

• Summary data slide deck
• Strategic industry profile (from Burning Glass Technologies)
• Supplementary data tables on automation risk and job quality

Media: New Research Highlights Racial Inequities in the Boston Area Workforce and Makes Actionable Recommendations for Equitable Economic Recovery (PR News Wire)

In the Chicagoland area, as in the rest of the nation, deep racial inequities are built into the regional economy. This report, produced in partnership with Burning Glass Technologies, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, and the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance, offers a comprehensive analysis of long-standing racial gaps in labor market outcomes, the economic impacts of Covid-19, and the racial equity implications of automation. It provides in-depth, disaggregated data on equity indicators and labor market dynamics, finding that only 41 percent of the region’s 4.2 million workers hold good jobs, that White workers with only a high school diploma earn on average the same wages as Black workers with an associate’s degree, and that eliminating racial inequities in income could boost the Chicagoland economy by $136 billion a year. Finally, it provides a blueprint for action to advance workforce equity informed by the data and driven by local leaders. Download the report.

Additional resources:

• Summary data slide deck
• Strategic industry profile (from Burning Glass Technologies)
• Supplementary data tables on automation risk and job quality

Media: New Research Highlights Racial Inequities in the Chicago Area Workforce and Proposes Recommendations for Equitable Economic Recovery (PR News Wire)

Cities thrive when all people can live in safe, stable, affordable homes in healthy neighborhoods connected to opportunities without fear of displacement. In 2018, PolicyLink created the All-In Cities Anti-Displacement Policy Network (ADPN), a national network of more than 65 leaders from 11 cities to work together to fight displacement and build thriving cities. Over the course of a year, the network participants developed anti-displacement strategies for their cities while building the power, voice, and capacity of communities directly impacted by displacement in defining challenges and advancing solutions. This report provides a summary of the network — what we did, outcomes, and emerging lessons for the field. It is written to help funders, policy advocates, and others who lead networks refine approaches so we can more effectively address displacement and build prosperous cities for all. Download the brief.