Rev. Jesse Jackson, Father of Diverse Economic Inclusion on Wall Street

Md. Washington Minority Companies Association’s (MWMCA) President, Wayne R. Frazier, Sr., had the recent pleasure of attending the 21^st Annual Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit on February 8^th and 9^th in New York City. After decades of fighting for civil and human rights, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, co-founder and leader of the Wall Street Project, believed that the path to black wealth building was to fashion economically diverse policies to influence America’s largest and most powerful public corporations. Therefore, he set out to change how America’s most profitable corporations dealt with hiring African Americans as mid to senior level employees, naming African Americans to corporate boards, and procuring with African American owned firms. According to many summit attendees, Rev. Jackson has been successful in changing the landscape by securing new careers, board seats, and billions spent with or invested in African American and now all minority and women owned firms too.

The 21^st Annual Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit’s theme, “50 Years After the Assassination of Dr. King: The Struggle Continues for Freedom, Equity, and Inclusion in Corporate America,” captured Rev. Jackson’s boarder perspective of broader inclusion of all minority groups, including Hispanic-Americans and women. The two day event included numerous sessions and workshops including, “Finding Success on Wall Street- The Dos and Don’ts,” “Progress, Potential and the Power of Minorities on Corporate Boards,” “Tech Innovation in Social Media, Advertising, and Marketing,” “Financing and Securing the Future of HBCU’s,” and “Optimizing ‘Business Capital’ and ‘Relationship Capital’ to Develop Winning Business Engagement Strategies in Corporate Contracts,” just to name a few.

Speakers included nationally recognize luminaries such as, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, Aerial Investments CEO John W. Rogers, Jr., The Williams Capital Group, L.P. and Williams Capital Management, LLC CEO and Founder Christopher J. Williams, National Urban League CEO Marc Morial, National Action Network Founder Rev. Al Sharpton, Morgan State University President David Wilson, Ed.D., and Exelon Director of Diverse Business Empowerment, Emmett T. Vaughn. Reflecting on his experience, Wayne Frazier commented, “The common thread between all the sessions and speakers is that America’s powerful Wall Street corporations have come a considerable way with economic inclusion, but still in the first quarter of a four-quarter game to improve its perception and reflection of our brown racial makeup. Maryland corporations can do a much better job too. Rev. Jackson may be in his twilight years, but he still possesses the inclusionary drive to help change America for the better. All Americans owe him a debt of gratitude as perhaps the father of economic inclusion on Wall Street and more recently Silicone Valley. God Bless Rev. Jackson.”

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Select here to view the 21^st Annual Wall Street Project Economic Summit’s Agenda

Rev Jesse Jackson at Rainbow Push Wall Street Project Economic Summit

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