DIVERSITY | 2PROMOTION
a valid explanation for the absence of
diversity on corporate boards.
As The ELC membership has
expanded to include entrepreneurs
and thought leaders, The ELC as an
organization is also embracing broader
leadership responsibility for its black
community. ELC Board Chair Tonie
Leatherberry, a principal at Deloitte &
Touche LLP and president of the Deloitte
Foundation, has begun her Chair’s
Initiative in partnership with selected
Historically Black Colleges and Univer-
sities (HBCUs) to increase the number of
black males who earn college degrees.
The ELC has been supportive of HBCUs
since its founding in 1986.
The ELC is also poised to tackle the
black/white wealth gap. The second
Black Economic Forum, a partner-
ship between The ELC and Sigma Pi
Phi Fraternity, Beta Iota Boulé, a local
chapter of the national organization
that sponsors social action and pub-
lic policy initiatives, met on Martha’s
Vineyard in August 2019. Black lead-
ers in finance discussed addressing
that gap, based on the ELC/McKin-
sey & Company report “The Economic
Impact of Closing the Racial Wealth
Gap,” which concludes that narrowingthe racial wealth gap could increase
the nation’s per capita gross domestic
product (GDP) by 4%-6%. Narrowing
that gap could put the United States
on a dramatic growth streak.
For over three decades, The ELC has
advocated for more blacks on boards
and in the C-suite, including the CEO
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sented unique leadership development
programs. The ELC is now leading with
a broader purpose, with depth and
breadth, to embrace black entrepre-
neurs and thought leaders – stars in the
new business landscape – and take on
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stability and wealth aspirations of so
many black professionals. Learn more
about The ELC at http://www.elcinfo.com.The ELC thanks the following sponsors of the
2019 Diversity at the Top Special Section in the Forbes 400 issue:The ELC’s Ann Fudge Scholarship received a
$130,000 contribution from The ELC at its 2019
Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF): Kimberly A.
Blackwell, WLF chair and ELC member, founder
and CEO of PMM Agency; former ELC CEO Skip
Spriggs; ELC Board Chair Tonie Leatherberry; ELC
Interim President and CEO Crystal E. Ashby, former
executive vice president, Government and Public
Affairs, BP America; ELC Board Secretary Leilani M.
Brown, senior vice president, Strategic Partnerships
and External Engagement for K12, Inc.; and ELC Vice
3UHVLGHQWDQG&KLHI3KLODQWKURS\2IżFHU6DWRQ\D)DLUEd Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines; Mary
Winston, ELC member and former interim CEO of
Bed Bath & Beyond; and David M. Ratcliffe, lead
board director of SunTrust Banks (retired CEO
of Southern Company) address the 2019 ELC/
African American Directors Forum Atlanta.ELC Board Chair Tonie Leatherberry with
Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH), chair of the House
Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity
and Inclusion, at the 2019 Black Economic
Forum on Martha’s Vineyard.