We Are Truly Unstoppable Together

Last week, The ELC held not one, not two, but four exclusive convenings over the span of just 3 days!

We were thrilled to welcome 84 young students from across the country to Washington, where we officially embraced them as a part of our ELC community. The two cohorts of ELC and Black Male Initiative Scholars were given a crash course in networking, professional development, and career-enhancing seminars that were created to help give them insight into what they can expect after graduation. At their pinning ceremony, with several ELC members and other corporate sponsors in attendance, we were proud to remind them that our ceiling is their floor and that The ELC is here to help guide them along their professional journeys.

Our Institute hosted both a virtual and in-person Mid-Level Managers' Symposium this year! With well over 1,000 attendees in both conferences, I was proud to help kick-off a professional development experience that is made for us, by us. From ELC member CEOs like David Rawlinson II and Caroline A. Wanga , to dynamic cultural influencers like Kenya Barris and many other thought leaders who packed the 2-day conference, this year’s MLMS was one to remember. I’m so proud of what this conference has become; an atmosphere where the Black professional experience is centered, essential and unapologetic.

This year’s CEO Gamechanger Conference gathered Fortune 500 CEOs, their Board Chairs and their CHROs, for an intimate and timely Chatham-House rules conversation on narrowing the opportunity gap for Black executives and what it will take to move the needle around DE&I in corporate America today. In addition to discussing the headwinds and tailwinds companies are seeing today, how Black professionals seek belonging even in the C-Suite, as well as the unconscious biases that continue to hold us back from seeing sustainable progress, we also underscored the need for corporations to see The ELC as partners and allies throughout the year who are committed to helping them succeed.

And to top it all off, we hosted the 2022 ELC Recognition Gala which helped recognize the achievements of leaders and organizations that have made significant contributions to the advancement of Black executives in corporate America and beyond. This year, we were proud to celebrate #ELCMember @Brenda Lauderback, Board Chair of Denny’s Corporation, who received the 2022 Alvaro L. Martins Heritage Award, #ELCMember Marvin Ellison , Chairman and CEO of Lowe’s Companies Inc., who was awarded the 2022 Achievement Award, the Target Corporation, our 2022 Corporate Award recipient, as well as Ambassador Andrew Young, Jr., who accepted the 2022 Global Game Changer Award. The highlights of the night included performances by Babyface and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

In total, we impacted 3,000 attendees with over 90 speakers across three separate programs, plus over 55 sessions, with three of our events having an audience of over 1,000 people each. We would not have been able to pull this tremendous effort off if not for our many Gala Week sponsors including: Johnson & Johnson, UPS, IBM, Bank of America, Google, Beam Suntory, Nationwide, Raytheon Technologies, GM, Meta, Novartis, PwC, Amazon, Capital One, Citi, Pepsi, Target, and the many other corporate sponsors who supported our scholarships.

I am so proud to have finally witnessed these events come to life since becoming president and CEO and after almost 3 years of virtual programming. We are truly ‘Unstoppable Together’ and I’m ecstatic for what the future holds for us at The ELC.