Diversity, Equity & Inclusion A Business Priority
• A special publication of the St. Louis American newspaper • PAGE 1
AUGUST 17 – 23, 2023
INSIDE Calvin Butler
w w w . s t l a m e r i c a n . c o m
‘We can reverse underinvestment and expand opportunity’
A conversation with Jason Hall of Greater St. Louis, Inc. Butler is one of eight Black CEOs running Fortune 500 companies Two Black executives join the Fortune 500 ranking for the first time. Calvin Butler Jr., a St. Louis native, was named CEO of Exelon (No. 218) in December 2022.
The 2022 graduating class of the Fellows program. The Fellows Experience program is designed to address the interests and challenges professionals of color face as they work to advance their careers.
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Shanti Parikh
Workshop to teach educators about St. Louis’ Black history Shanti Parikh, Washington University’s African and African American Studies department chair, believes educators thus far have struggled to teach African American history, so researchers must take the knowledge they possess and disseminate it.
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Aaron Rogers
Dismantling racism in the church Pastor Aaron Rogers at St. Stephens Episcopal serves as a ministry Developer for the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri and facilitates the Dismantling Racism Commission. Now three years in his position Rogers has helped adjust the vision of the DEI team by hosting training anti-racism events for all leaders in all churches.
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By Chris King For The St. Louis American Jason Hall - chief executive officer of Greater St. Louis, Inc., a regional economic development entity - points to two eye-opening statistics in the STL 2030 Jobs Plan. “If Black St. Louisans started and owned businesses at the same rate as white residents, our metro would have more than 8,000 additional employer businesses and approximately 66,000
additional jobs,” Hall told The American. “And economists estimated that our metro’s gross domestic product in 2012 would have been 10% higher, nearly $13.7 billion higher, if not for racial disparities in household income. Greater St. Louis, Inc. is stewarding implementation of the calls to action in this jobs plan, so it’s a very good sign that its CEO understands the value to the entire region of making better
See HALL, page 4
New leadership at Missouri Foundation for Health ‘Nothing I’ve done or hope to do can happen without collaboration’ A conversation with Dwayne Proctor, president and CEO By Chris King For The St. Louis American Dr. Dwayne Proctor is the president and CEO of Missouri Foundation for Health, an independent philanthropic foundation committed to changing systems and removing barriers to health for all Missourians. He assumed this statewide leadership position in 2021 after nearly 20 years with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in New Jersey, the largest American philanthropic foundation focused solely on health.
The adjustment, he told The American, is “one of scope, not mission.” “What we at MFH are doing is just as critical as my work at RWJF, and just as complicated,” Proctor told The American. «I’ve realized that Missouri has consistently been a reflection of and a flashpoint for what is happening in the nation, which means any solutions we find here can and will have a national impact. We spoke to Proctor about the work he is leading at Missouri Foundation for Health, what Missouri needs to hear from a candid transplant, and what he learned touring with Ray Charles as his road manager. The St. Louis American: Missouri Foundation for Health partnered in a
See PROCTOR, page 7
Dwayne Proctor