Racial equity is an economic imperative.

Minnesota is a great place to live unless you're Black. That's a saying I've heard time and again, and for many persistent disparities in education, income and homeownership bear that out.

As we come upon our second year of the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity (MBCRE), our 70-plus member companies continue to work toward a more prosperous state with and for Black
Minnesotans, which we believe will benefit everyone. Our coalition members are large enterprises such as Best Buy, U.S. Bank and 3M, and smaller companies such as Children’s Minnesota, Delta Dental of Minnesota and Great Clips.

Racial equity work has no road map, and yet the periodic killings of Black people by police here and around the country – such as George Floyd, Daunte Wright and Amir Locke – continue to point to a need for resources and systems that ensure a higher level of public safety, so that everyone has a chance to live out their best life.

Growing up in the vibrant Black community of my hometown, Detroit, I knew racial inequities were woven into the fabric of our nation, but it wasn’t until I pursued my education and landed my first job that I
often found myself the only Black person or person of color in the room.

That strong sense of otherness made me feel like I didn’t have a say. It muted the woman my mother and village had sacrificed for me to become. As I rose the corporate ladder, which involved relocating to
Minneapolis, my early career experiences stayed with me and made me want to ensure that others felt they could bring the fullness of who they are not only to work, but to every aspect of their lives.

As the MBCRE looked across the spectrum of need, we decided to create smaller working groups, which we called pillars. We focused on policy, philanthropy, the workplace and allyship. Our goal was to
identify the ways in which the business community could harness and deploy its collective resources and expertise on behalf of justice and prosperity for Black Minnesotans.

We hired a lobbyist to reach out to legislators and help us advance policies centered on racial equity that are also backed by our business community. We created a best practice guide for
companies of all sizes to establish and/or improve their diversity, equity and inclusion practices. And we put together allyship resources and materials to foster a more welcoming environment for
the Black Minnesotans employed by MBCRE member companies.

Before I became managing director of MBCRE nearly a year ago, something in my spirit was calling for change. Even though this new role required that I take a detour from the fast track of my career at
General Mills, I sensed that the opportunity would help me channel the grief and heaviness I’d carried after George Floyd’s murder, which shadowed me across the pandemic.

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