Hartford Business Journal

14 Hartford Business Journal • September 7, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Greg Bordonaro gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com F red McKinney has been on a number of nonprofit boards, and been asked to sit on many others. It's not surprising given his credentials. The current innovation and entrepreneurship chair at Quin- nipiac University, McKinney previously taught econom- ics at Brandeis University and UConn, and has a Ph.D. in econom- ics from Yale. He also started a successful wholesale New Haven gourmet coffee company and headed and helped grow over 14 years the Connecticut Minority Supplier Development Council, which advocates for increased procurement opportunities between corporations and certified minority businesses. That experience has made McK- inney, who is Black, in-demand for board seats at organizations that include the Gateway Community College Foundation, Bridgeport Hospital, Habitat for Humanity and The Community's Bank. Given his resume and accomplish- ments, McKinney said he's surprised he has never been asked to join the board of a for-profit, publicly traded company. Academics with business experience are attractive for those positions, he said. "I've enjoyed my nonprofit board work, but I think I'm ready for corpo- rate board work," McKinney said. "But I know I can't control that. Someone has to be looking. If they aren't look- ing, they aren't going to find me." McKinney says he knows many Black business leaders even more qualified than himself who would make good public company board members. His broader point is that businesses haven't done enough to search out and groom Black people for top leadership positions, whether at larger companies or small businesses. And data nationally and in Con- necticut backs that up. Despite U.S. companies spending much time, money and attention on diversity and inclusion efforts in re- cent years, only 3.2% of senior leader- ship positions at large corporations are held by Black people, according to a 2019 report by the Center for Talent Innovation, a New York City-based workplace think tank. Black people, who make up about 12% of the state's population, are also disproportionately underrepre- sented in power positions at Con- necticut public companies. In fact, according to a Hartford Business Journal analysis of C-suites at the 31-largest publicly traded companies in the state, Black people hold only about 3% of senior leader- ship roles and 7% of board seats. "I think those numbers are insuffi- cient," said Connecticut State Treasur- er Shawn Wooden, who as a fiduciary to the state pension fund has pushed large companies to diversify their top ranks. "The corporations in America and Connecticut need to do better." With a renewed focus on racial equality following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis earlier this year and the rise of Black Lives Matter protests, advocates are also shining a light on the lack of racial diversity in corporate C-suites, in- cluding some based in Connecticut. McKinney, Wooden and others say companies must do more to not only hire African Americans, but prepare them for top leadership roles. It's not only a moral imperative, they say, but a smart business strategy. Numerous studies have shown that companies with more diverse work- forces perform better financially. Corporate America hasn't been deaf to those hails. Myriad Con- necticut companies in recent months have issued rare public statements supporting efforts to ad- dress systemic racism and equality, and outlined initiatives — as well as financial support — to further diversify their workforces. For example, Hartford health in- surer Aetna's parent company — CVS Health — recently pledged nearly $600 million over five years to advance employee, community and public policy initiatives that address inequal- ity faced by the Black community. "While we know that CVS Health alone cannot erase the toll that 400 years of institutionalized racism and discrimination has taken on the Black community, we recognize that we have a role to play in living up to the poten- tial the future holds," said David Casey, CVS Health's chief diversity officer. The data and problem HBJ's analysis of local public com- panies included businesses that are either headquartered or maintain a large presence in the state. HBJ examined the senior leadership and board members of each company, including executives named in proxy statements filed with the U.S. Securi- ties and Exchange Commission, as well as top leaders identified on of- ficial company websites. Breaking Barriers As CT companies respond to calls for racial diversity, Black people still underrepresented in C-suite DIVERSITY DIVERSITY DIVERSITY INC. An HBJ Special Focus Section Quinnipiac University innovation and entrepreneurship professor Fred McKinney, who also previously owned his own small business, said companies must do more to hire and promote diverse workers, particularly for C-suite positions. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER

• Cover