To break the color barrier in Major League Baseball in the 1940s, Jackie Robinson had to demonstrate relentless acts of athletic skill and strategy, setting an enduring standard for exceptionalism in talent, performance, and grace.
Unfortunately, this exceptionalism remains the standard for Black professionals to succeed in the financial services industry, Joyce Foundation Chief Investment Officer and Treasurer Nickol Hackett writes in an op-ed for Chief Investment Officer magazine.
Hackett, who oversees the investment of Joyce’s $1 billion in endowment assets, cites recent research and lessons from her own career in finance to highlight the industry’s longstanding and persistent record of inequity in career advancement for Black professionals and other racial and ethnic groups.
To even the playing field, she calls for more intentionality, advocacy, and a “presumption of greatness” to change outcomes and create the runway for success. In addition, she writes, we must recognize that the problem isn’t one of talent, but imagination.
About The Joyce Foundation
Joyce is a nonpartisan, private foundation that invests in evidence-informed public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.