Giving Notice

The Associated Press recently reported a disturbing reality concerning the rapidly shrinking number of African American CEOs. Following Stan O’Neal’s recent retirement from a top tier position at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Dick Parsons’ announcement that he will retire at the end of the year from Time Warner, Inc., only four African Americans will remain chief executives among Fortune 500 companies. Though CEOs, regardless of race, generally have a short shelf life, representation among African Americans in these top positions is sorely lacking nonetheless. Which begs the question: What challenges do African Americans face that prevent them from reaching the top ranks?

Giving Notice acknowledges that African Americans and other people of color are often confronted with a myriad of hidden barriers and with disproving stereotypes from the moment they enter the corporate workplace. While leadership and managers clearly need to address these workplace issues that negatively affect the retention of African Americans at every level, there is an equally if not more critical challenge at the source that impacts African Americans’ career advancement—dismantling educational barriers. One approach to harvesting increased numbers of African American future CEOs in Fortune 500 companies is planting the seed early on through improved fairness in education, opportunities, resources, and investment in African American youth so that they can realize their potential to truly rise through the ranks and become leaders. This, in effect, serves as a pipeline and will better prepare them with knowledge and confidence to confront the hidden bias and barriers in the workplace that undoubtedly await them…