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African Americans who sit on company boards need to start speaking up in favor of the hiring of fellow black executives for top-tier professional positions, a stratum of business they have been largely shut out of for too long, said John W. Rogers Jr., chairman and CEO of Ariel Capital Management.
Rogers made his remarks November 11 in a discussion with veteran business television anchor and correspondent Karen Gibbs, ’78, at the inaugural Black Business and Economic Forecast hosted by the Black Alumni Association at the Union League Club of Chicago.
Rogers was at an Operation Push meeting recently and noticed one company listed the jobs it had available for minority businesses, mainly in the area of pest control and janitorial work.
“If you think about the implications of that and what signal that sends to minority entrepreneurs, it’s that we can pick up the garbage and find the pests, but we can’t be your investment banker, your lawyer, your consultant, or anything else,” Rogers said.
Gibbs cited statistics that pointed to inroads that have been made: 8 percent of corporate directors are African Americans, and 105 serve on two or more boards.
Just filling a seat on a board isn’t enough, Rogers said.
“We get these powerful seats, but nothing really has changed for the bulk of people of color,” he said. Instead, Rogers recommended board members establish personal relationships with CEOs and privately make a pitch for employing African Americans in top professional positions.
“First start to reach out and build a bridge, and then if that doesn’t work, start to push harder in the boardroom,” Rogers said.
“We have to come together and speak out and say, ‘This can’t stay the same,’” Rogers said. “It’s for all of us and our kids, and we really want to see things change.”
—Mary Sue Penn