We are excited to offer an advance look at the sessions that will be included in the Racial Equity track at SOCAP17, produced in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The overarching goal of this track is to advance racial equity within the the fields of investing, philanthropy and entrepreneurship by raising awareness, stimulating necessary conversations, and forging actionable new practices that will measurably address systemic racial inequity. Sessions will illuminate historical and existing systemic barriers while exploring ways to apply a racial equity lens to many types of work across sectors and communities
Because inequity affects us all and real change will take all our efforts, everyone is invited and urged to join us in conversations as part of the Racial Equity Track sessions at SOCAP17. Your voice is welcome and needed.
These sessions were designed with thoughtful intention–our aim is to foster substantive change by sparking new and revelatory conversations on the subject of racial equity. Admittedly, some of these discussions may provoke discomfort and that is okay. Change is rarely accomplished without confronting uncomfortable questions. Session curators, moderators, and speakers are all working together to create a space where everyone can come together to celebrate the positive changes that are already occurring and to initiate the challenging conversations that can lead to real systemic change.
The Racial Equity Sessions
The Racial Equity track at SOCAP17 offers a wide variety of sessions, from experiential workshops to panels of leading experts and practitioners to examinations of innovations across sectors. Please take a look at the session descriptions in order to begin thinking about the questions you wish to ask and perspectives you can bring to these conversations.
The Business Case for Racial Equity
Racial equity can spur business success and economic growth. This resource rich session will discuss foundations of systemic racism in the U.S.
Free Your Mind: Narrative Change
Not a typical focus area for impact investing, come hear of the disruptive work and opportunities investors, business and entrepreneurs are doing in narrative change.
Language Matters
This session will discuss differences between equity, diversity, and inclusion to give everyone a common, actionable language.
International Context
Across the globe, open dialogue about race and racism is taboo. We’ll cover conversations taking place outside of the U.S. and investment examples.
The First Mile: Racial Equity in Capital Deployment
Discuss the internal processes and procedures being used to make capital more diverse and representative.
Building a Pipeline for Racial Equity
How can the field better identify, cultivate, accelerate inclusive entrepreneurship?
What Does Racial Equity look like in Practice?
This experiential workshop will take a hypothetical social enterprise from idea through investment at scale and examine how race and/or bias show up.
Where Do You Fit?
Join this opportunity to explore how systems of racial oppression impact us personally and professionally.
Formerly Incarcerated: Connecting Talent to Opportunity
Explore the societal and economic impact of incarceration and hear innovations for opportunities for this cohort.
Advancing Racial Equity at Scale: Policy Change for Systems Change
Hear about some of the interesting partners that are at the intersection of policy, racial equity, investment and enterprise.
Looking at Investments from a Racial Equity Perspective
How does race manifest in finance, and what can an asset owner committed to racial justice do to ensure investments?
From Charity to Justice
This panel will discuss the risk of scaling and funding based on discomfort and challenge philanthropy to shift from charity to justice.
America Divided
As part of the Racial Equity Track, attendees will have the opportunity to attend a screening of the docu-series America Divided, which follows high-profile correspondents (including Common, Rosario Dawson, America Ferrera, Zach Galifianakis, Norman Lear, Amy Poehler, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jesse Williams) as they explore narratives around inequality in education, housing, healthcare, labor, criminal justice and the political system.
Following the screening, America Divided creator and executive producer Solly Granatstein will join DJ, composer, and producer J.PERIOD (Hamilton Mixtape) for a Q&A session. J.PERIOD partnered with artists from the series to create RISE UP! Music Inspired by America Divided.
Suggested Reading Before the Conference
We’ve curated a few helpful articles and organizations as resources for preparation for the track.
The Racial Equity Resource Guide from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Articles
- Inside Philanthropy’s article: Philanthropy vs. Racism: Inside Kellogg’s Quest for “Healing and Transformation”.
- The Business Insider article on the $6.5 million Entrepreneurs of Color Fund in Detroit: A $6.5 million loan fund threw FICO scores out the window, and the results show a way forward for America’s struggling cities.
- Ben and Jerry’s description of their company’s own racial equity journey.
