Stepping Up for Representation

CULTURE

Perspectives and analysis: Georgetown McDonough’s Standing Committee on DEI, established in October 2020, consists of students, faculty, and staff. The committee’s analysis and recommendations have been critical to this inaugural report and all DEI efforts. Leadership: The school appointed longtime faculty member George Comer as its first director of underrepresented minority student support. Comer, an associate professor of finance, has been a leader and mentor for underrepresented minority students for years, advising on programs such as Smart Start and serving as co-director for Georgetown Reach (see Composition). The appointment recognizes this leadership and came as a recommendation of the DEI Standing Committee to identify opportunities for DEIfocused leadership within McDonough. A board focus: The Georgetown McDonough Board of Advisors and Parents Advisory Council meetings for 2021 have focused on DEI-related issues.

Sharing best practices: Georgetown McDonough and DEI leaders at other business schools—specifically signatories to the CEO Action pledge, such as University of Virginia Darden School of Business, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and NYU Stern School of Business—developed a collaborative group for sharing best practices and coordinating with AACSB.

STEPPING UP FOR REPRESENTATION

When Melissa Bradley (B’89) was in school, she felt fortunate. Despite looking around and seeing only one other Black female finance major, she felt welcome because of support from leaders such as Gordon Chavis, assistant director of the Center for Minority Student Affairs, and from a community of underrepresented students looking after each other. After graduating, Bradley’s career focused on promoting and investing in entrepreneurship in historically marginalized communities—a passion she originally found at Georgetown. While continuing her work with Project 500 and 1863 Ventures, she also has returned to the Hilltop as a professor, with the goal of improving the experience and representation of students, and particularly women of color in business on campus. Representation came into play, as well. “I realized the one thing that plagued my experience at Georgetown was a lack of people of color as professors. I had only one, so I figured out how I could improve that myself,” Bradley said in the book 60 Years of Alumnae: Memories, Milestones, and Momentum. It’s why, along with a successful career as an entrepreneur promoting and investing in historically marginalized communities, she also serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown McDonough. She teaches courses on impact investing, social innovation, and more. “I have become committed to using my financial and business acumen to empower and support historically marginalized communities,” Bradley said. “That has evolved from just Black communities, to LGBTQ communities, to all communities that are marginalized. I also decided I wanted to teach. I wanted to give back.”