Hundreds of changemakers from our region and beyond came together on June 22, 2023 to gain the tools, solutions, and momentum necessary to shift from closing racial equity gaps to powering the full economic inclusion that will build generational wealth in Black and Brown communities. THANK YOU for joining us in this mission!

Together, we can -- and will -- design regional economies that truly work for everyone.

June 22, 2023 Powering Inclusion Summit Highlights

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Activator Lab 1 | Moving from Employment to Family Sustaining Wages
When you consider wages for a position, do you consider how much a person needs to earn to survive in your community? Should you? Why or why not? Too few workers are paid family sustaining wages, increasing risks for both workers, families, employers, and the economy. But the tide is changing. Learn from employers who have made a commitment to paying every employee a family sustaining wage about the benefits to employees, business, and the community, and how to approach these policies for your organization.

Speakers:

Activator Lab 2 | Measuring What Works: Talent Pipelines, Management, and Culture Brokers for Racial Equity
Winning in business means getting the right person in the right seats and leaving no one behind. COVID-19 created partnership opportunities for Workforce Boards, colleges and employers to create new career training opportunities ~ how do we scale those opportunities for the future?

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Activator Lab 3 | Data in Action: The Racial Equity Dividends Index
Take a deep dive on the results of the 2023 Racial Equity Dividends Index and best practices for taking action to transform your organization with the results.

Speakers: TBA

Activator Lab 4 | Connections, Cash, and Contracts: The Formula for Building Wealth with Minnesota’s Job Creators
The Center for Economic Inclusion’s Vanguard Accelerator is investing in Minnesota’s groundbreaking job creators with the capital, connections, and capacity needed for them to grow and scale their corporate and government contracts that will create opportunities for increasing jobs that pay family sustaining wages, and build their wealth and that of their employees. Join us to meet the latest Accelerator members and hear more about how the Center, NEOO Partners, and Founders First are working with corporations and investors to change the game and help diversify Minnesota’s supply chains.

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Activator Lab 5 | Data in Action: The Racial Equity Dividends Index
Take a deep dive on the results of the 2023 Racial Equity Dividends Index and best practices for taking action to transform your organization with the results.

Speakers: TBA

Activator Lab 6 | Reparations, Reconciliation, Truth & Healing with and for Native Communities
Historic racism, genocide, and wealth extraction require policies and investments that are equally as intentional about repair, reconciliation, truth and healing. Let's learn together and build plans that center Native people and visions.

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Activator Lab 7 | Reparations, Reconciliation, Truth & Healing with and for African American Communities
Historic racism, genocide, and wealth extraction require policies and investments that are equally as intentional about repair, reconciliation, truth and healing. Let's learn together and build plans that center African American people and visions.

Speakers:

Activator Lab 8 | Ownership for Wealth Building: Building Inclusive Economic Development, Community Development, and Real Estate
Black and Brown people have been opening businesses at dramatically higher rates than their White peers for years, but our property, job and wealth creation rates pale in comparison. Join us to hear economic developers share the playbook for developing with ownership, community wealth building, and love in the center.

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Activator Lab 9 | Diversifying Supply Chains to Diversify the Economy
Supply chain diversity is no longer a compliance strategy. Minnesota's corporations and governments have everything we need to position our Black and Brown businesses as the job creators of the future, including the will to succeed. Join us to hear from corporations who are diversifying their supply chains and growing inclusive wealth and jobs.

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Activator Lab 10 | Disrupting Bias in Sectors that Matter
Black, Indigenous, and Latine workers are over-concentrated in sectors that pay low wages, while high-growth, high-wage sectors like tech, biomanufacturing, fin-tech and medical sciences are hurting for talent. How are leading employers disrupting the talent practices of yesterday to build winning innovative, racially equitable, and inclusive workplaces?

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Activator Lab 11 | Access to Capital: Targeted Approach to Building Generational Wealth in Black & Brown Communities
Capital is flowing to entrepreneurs at new rates. Is it the right capital, is it meaningful, and how will we know?

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Activator Lab 12 | Master Class: Curated Spaces for Black & Brown Talent Development
Black and Brown leaders have developed their own spaces to rewrite the rules for leadership development, career planning, business development, and mentoring. Learn from Twin Cities Black Affinity Network Development Day (TCBANDD), Coalition of Asian American Leaders,  Latino Lead, the Center for Economic Inclusion, and their corporate partners about what’s working. 

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About Dr. Pamela Jolly

“It takes three generations to build legacy wealth, and only one generation to lose it. Wealth as a legacy is a choice, together let’s choose it.” - Dr. Pamela Jolly

Dr. Pamela Jolly has enjoyed a career in the financial services industry in banking, strategic consulting, private equity/venture capital, and data analytics. She is the CEO of Torch Enterprises Inc, a strategic investment company she has run for the past 20 years. Dr. Jolly is the author of five books on her dissertation, Legacy Wealth, and often serves as a subject matter expert on Black Wealth for cities and large philanthropic organizations. Recently Dr. Jolly completed a national study of Black Women, Trust, and the financial services industry and an econometric model designed to quantify the need for increased investment in Black-led social and economic change.

About the Founder

Tawanna A. Black is a nationally recognized thought leader known for influencing, inspiring, and equipping cross-sector leaders to transform a personal conviction for equality into actions that produce equitable and thriving communities. For more than 20 years, Tawanna has led multi-sector collaboratives, triple bottom-line diversity and inclusion strategy development, and economic revitalization organizations in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota.

The Center for Economic Inclusion is the nation’s first woman-led organization dedicated exclusively to creating inclusive regional economies by equipping public and private sector employers to dismantle institutional racism and build shared accountability for inclusive economic growth.

Sponsor the Center’s Events Year-Round!

Showcase your commitment to racial equity and inclusive growth!

The Minneapolis-St. Paul region and similar regions across the country are at a critical moment in the journey to economic inclusion. The Center seeks partners who are ready to take action and join us in creating an economy that works for everyone by sponsoring our 2023 Powering Inclusion Annual Summit, Fall Series Reckoning to Rise Digital Workshops, and Reckoning for Truth, Trust & Racial Justice Tours.

As a sponsor, your investment tells the story of your commitment to anti-racism and inclusive economic growth to your clients, employees, and prospective partners and investors. 

• For more information on sponsoring this event, contact Megan Garrido, AVP of Fund Development at mgarrido@centerforeconomicinclusion.org.