I recall once reading that President Thabo Mbeki, the one who succeeded Nelson Mandela, as president of the Republic of South Africa, once said that his biggest worry during the Apatheid era was to miss a genuine opportunity from the Apatheid regime to end Apatheid, due to doubts from previous duplicity by the regime.
Black people in the corporate world (Ford Motor Company, General Motors, DTE Energy, etc.) are wondering if the call this time for change from corporate executives is for real or it is like what their parents have lived through (just talking now and abandoning initiatives later).
Those of us who left the USA to work in South Africa to help implement Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) can say that we have the tools, skills, and resources to help corporate America bring Diversity & Inclusion to the work place. Creating value and ensuring Diversity & Inclusion in the work place are not mutually exlusive. But to get it right, it is more than economics.
In fact, value is being left on the table if Diversity & Inclusion are not already part of the company's accroutrements.
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