BLACK MEN IN CORPORATE AMERICA: AMBITIOUS, DRIVEN, AND BLOCKED FROM THE C-SUITE
Black Men in Corporate America: Ambitious, Driven, and Blocked From the C-Suite by Skip Spriggs, Pooja Jain-Link, and Julia Taylor Kennedy Two decades ago, a powerful class of black men stepped up to the C-Suite. Then, progress halted. This momentum will only be regained when employers are ready to address the systemic challenges that face black men and women as they build their careers. Without robust data that specifies the needs of black men, employers will continue to stumble in the dark, falling back to “best guesses” instead of implementing targeted, transformative solutions. This article zeros in on the black male experience, drawn from the Center for Talent Innovation’s recent study in partnership with The Executive Leadership Council, of Black male and Black female professionals, Being Black in Corporate America: An Intersectional Exploration. In this article, we share black male professionals’ ambition; the challenges they face as they forge their careers; why they frequently choose entrepreneurship over corporate careers; and we offer a roadmap for employers looking to retain and support Black colleagues. SKIP SPRIGGS is the former President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council POOJA JAIN-LINK is an executive vice president of the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI). Along with co-leading CTI’s groundbreaking research studies, she oversees culture audits at companies seeking to identify and implement best practices for building diverse, inclusive workplaces where every employee belongs. JULIA TAYLOR KENNEDY is an executive vice president of the Center for Talent Innovation. In addition to co-leading cutting-edge research into the issues impacting each member of today’s professional workforce, she oversees leadership development programs to build an inclusive and equitable global workplace where everyone can thrive.
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THE LATE 90’S TO EARLY AUGHTS was an auspicious time for black men in
Corporate America. Richard Parsons, Ken Chenault, Stanley O’Neal, and Frank Raines, all black, helmed four of the country’s most prestigious organizations: AOL Time Warner, American Express, Merrill Lynch, and Fannie Mae. And the business press took note, heralding the rise of black professional power.1 Then, progress stalled.
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