TALENT CONVERGENCE THEORY

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TALENT CONVERGENCE THEORY

Talent Convergence Theory

As the world continues to evolve at a warp speed, companies are beginning to recognize the need for talent to fuel their competitive positioning. Stewart and Adams recognized that their survey, along with other confirming data, showcases a field of “untapped” talent. Their Talent Convergence Theory outlines the driving business forces. It all starts with the major advancements women of color have made and their influence as true “assets” to the economy and social order.

• Kamala Harris, the first woman and woman of color (with Jamaican and Indian parents), has been elected vice president of the United States. • U.S. Census data predict that women of color will be in the majority by 2060, if not before. • Likewise, Census data report that more Black women are earning college degrees than any other demographic of the US population. • Black women are three times more likely to aspire to a position of power with a prestigious title than white women, according to Harvard Business Review research. • Our survey confirmed a Nielsen finding, that Black and LatinX women—especially our younger Gen Z and

Millennials —are more innovative, more likely to be first adopters of new technology.

As poet Maya Angelou wrote, women of color “are the miraculous,” and we are winning. Almost every day, news reports describe the victories achieved by women of color. Maybe it’s tedious to continue to tout “firsts” in 2019 and 2020. But the data show that women of color are racking them up.

SNAPSHOT: WOMEN OF COLOR ASSETS

• A 2019 American Express study estimated women of colorowned businesses generated $422.5 billion in revenue. • Their 2018 study found that firms owned by Black women from 2007 to 2018 grew by a whopping 164%. • Black women achieved this growth with ZERO dollars in VC funding, on average, according to McKinsey. • Nielsen predicts that Black women will control some $1.5 trillion in consumer purchasing power by 2021.

That number is larger than the GDP of Australia.

We could be our own country.

The deficits, however, are undeniable.

Business gaps persist in 2019.

• In 2019, the Center for Talent Innovation found that Black women fill only 3.2% of the senior leadership roles at large companies in the U.S. and just 0.8% of all Fortune 500 CEO positions. • For two years in a row, the Fortune 100 listed ZERO women of color CEOs and in January 2020, Catalyst reported that women of color held just 4.6% of Fortune 500 board seats. • Despite rapid growth as entrepreneurs, Black women received 0.2% of all VC funding over the last decade, according to McKinsey. • Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions (GPS)’s report, Closing the

Racial Inequality Gaps: The Economic Cost of Black Inequality in the U.S., took a deep look at the costs of discrimination in a major 2020 study and calculated $16 trillion in lost GDP because of the gaps between African Americans and whites in wages, discriminatory lending and access to quality education.

These trends support an increased return on investment for companies that embrace and nurture the burgeoning pool of women of color, of this underrepresented talent, with a business model that creates a sense of belonging and well-being.

Despite the distressing deficits, Stewart and Adams are optimistic. As their Talent Convergence Theory illustrates, in between the obvious assets and deficits is a “greenfield” of potential untapped talent, specifically innovative, ambitious, confident women of color. The authors see unstoppable flywheels of progress in motion, driven partly by demographic trends that presage imminent spikes in minority populations in the U.S. (New York City and California, for example, are already majority minority), and recent regulatory and societal changes (e.g., California’s and Nasdaq’s demands for more board representation for underrepresented minorities).