You believe an imperative now exists in the minds of our best leaders around diversity, equity and inclusion. Is a major disruption of the status quo on the horizon?
Stella Nkomo: There is good news along with a cautionary tale. The good news is, with international outcry over the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, it does appear that corporate America and businesses around the world have experienced a reckoning and now realize that they have to take action on racism. The question is whether all the talk will be turned into real action. We certainly hope that companies will begin to understand what they need to do to address racism in the workplace. Particularly with respect to the status of Black women and women of colour in organizations, radical change is required. But we’ll have to wait and see if leaders do what needs to be done.
Your book (Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity) was originally published 20 years ago, when there were six female CEOs in the Fortune 500 and none were Black. Where do we stand today?
became the first African American woman CEO in 2009, when she was tapped to head (eight years after our book was published). There are now two African American women CEOs in the Fortune 500, four other women of colour and
