Advancing Racial Equity: The Challenging Landscape for Business

BSR Members Only

Date and Time

April 26, 2023
1:00 pm-2:00 pm EDT

Location

Webinar

Topic

Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

A looming US Supreme Court case will affect affirmative action programs in higher education and beyond. At the same time, there is a surge in state-level policy-making that negatively impacts employers’ diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. With these pressing issues as a backdrop, BSR will host an online dialogue for BSR members, providing an overview on the overall landscape as well as initial guidance on how business can take action to protect their workforce and to engage proactively on policy. Following the overview, participants will have an opportunity to learn about their peers' efforts to address this issue at their company and identify needed tools and resources for continued learning on this topic.

Scheduled Speakers

• Shalini Goel Agarwal, Counsel, Protect Democracy
• Richard Eidlin, National Policy Director, Business for America
• Skye Perryman, President and CEO, Democracy Forward
• Jarrid Green, Co-Director, Center for Business and Social Justice, BSR
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Jarrid Green
Co-Director, Center for Business and Social Justice, BSR
Washington, D.C.
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Jarrid is the Co-Director of the Center for Business and Social Justice.
Prior to joining BSR, Jarrid worked at Freedman Consulting, where he developed and managed strategic philanthropic initiatives, including donor coalitions and nonprofit initiatives focused on racial and civic justice issues, climate/sustainability impacts, and public health. Jarrid has also served in senior research and project management capacities at The Democracy Collaborative and The Center for Social Inclusion, where he led and supported policy research and advocacy efforts that aimed to dismantle structural racial inequities through community and economic development practices.  
Jarrid received his MBA in Sustainability from Bard College and his BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland. He is also an alum of the Council of Urban Professional Fellowship Institute. 
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• MaryAnne Howland, Director, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, BSR
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MaryAnne Howland
Director, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, BSR
New York
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MaryAnne is responsible for establishing equity, inclusion, and justice (EIJ) services at BSR as a leading business resource for value-based leadership. She provides insights, strategies, and resources to reimagine and institutionalize global EIJ using an issue-focused approach. She will lead BSR’s EIJ team to provide support to companies across industries through strategic consulting services, thought leadership, and research on issues including, but not exclusive to: economic, health, and racial equity and inclusion; women’s empowerment; PGLE; persons with disabilities, supply chains; board governance; and Indigenous and regional issues. 
MaryAnne is the founder of Ibis Communications and the Global Diversity Leadership Exchange, and she also co-founded J.E.D.I. Collaborative. She has extensive experience in working with leaders in corporate, governmental, and non-governmental organizations who are on the front lines of driving justice, equity, dignity, and inclusion (JEDI) at the intersection of sustainability in global markets.
MaryAnne holds a BS in Communications from Boston University.
 
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• Jen Stark, Co-Director, Center for Business and Social Justice, BSR
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Jen Stark
Co-Director, Center for Business and Social Justice, BSR
Washington, D.C.
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Jen is the Co-Director of the Center for Business and Social Justice. She is a strategy development and implementation expert at complex health and humanitarian organizations with 20+ years of experience. She launched the Center in 2022 alongside Jarrid Green to illuminate a path for companies to shift from performative to transformational actions with a focus on public policy engagement and influence. 
Prior to joining BSR, she directed investments at the Tara Health Foundation to advance meaningful change among private sector employers on gender and racial equity, including historic progress on paid family and medical leave, reproductive health, and other workplace protections. Before working in philanthropy, she founded the corporate relations program at Planned Parenthood Federation of America to unlock advocacy, grantmaking and employee support to preserve access to reproductive healthcare nationwide. She also managed the disaster fundraising team at the American Red Cross, coordinating large scale efforts to responsibly raise and deploy hundreds of millions of dollars. She is frequently cited in business press on flashpoint topics and is an advisor to Gauge.ai and GoFundMe’s Compassion Leadership Network. 
Jen holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is based in Washington, DC with her family, where she also plays cello in a community orchestra.   
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