- Event video [YouTube]
In the second installment of the series, the employment session focused on issues related to occupational segregation, discriminatory practices, and employment law. With a bias for action, we invited nonprofit, private, and academic leaders to bring forward proposals offering policy and practice changes to mitigate racial disparities and improve the overall economy. Practitioners and private sector leaders discussed the overall practicality, effectiveness, and opportunities offered by the proposals to remove barriers to equity and improve employment outcomes for workers of color.
Speakers include:
- Kimberly Adams, Marketplace
- Byron Auguste, Opportunity@Work
- Ed Bastian, Delta Air Lines
- Joshua Bolten, Business Roundtable
- Raphael Bostic, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
- Mary C. Daly, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
- Rebecca Dixon, National Employment Law Project
- Ashleigh Gardere, PolicyLink
- Ai-jen Poo, National Domestic Workers Alliance
- William M. Rodgers III, Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University
- Eric Rosengren, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
- Valerie Wilson (Keynote), Economic Policy Institute

Event Details
Virtual video event presented by the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Minneapolis, and San Francisco
Presenter Proposals
Joshua Bolten's Proposal
Dec. 10, 2020
Rebecca Dixon's Proposal
Nov. 2, 2020
William M. Rodgers III's Proposal
Dec. 8, 2020
Additional Resources
We have curated a collection of additional resources that focus on the topics of racism, employment, and their effects on the economy.
Racial Equity Primer
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Disappointing Facts about the Black-White Wage Gap
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Racial Income Gap and Benefits Cliff
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
People of Color Face Systemic Disparities in Minnesota’s Labor Market
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
The Effects of the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic on Service Workers in New England
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Explore the full resource list ›
Event media coverage
Here’s one idea for addressing occupational segregation
Marketplace | Nov. 27, 2020
Fed's Bostic says recovery has been weakest for Black workers
Reuters | Nov. 17, 2020
About the series
Understanding the implications of structural racism in America’s economy and advancing actions to improve economic outcomes for all.
Racism forms the foundation of inequality in our society; it limits opportunity for people of color and threatens the health of our economy. While the global pandemic has intensified racial and economic disparities, the killing of George Floyd has provoked people from all walks of life to address the systems and structures that enable and perpetuate these outcomes.
Hosted by the Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Boston in partnership with the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland, Dallas, and San Francisco, Racism and the Economy is a series of virtual events that brings together community, business, and academic leaders to examine the economic impact of racism and advance bold ideas and concrete actions to achieve an economy that makes opportunity available to everyone.
Event Agenda
Tuesday, November 17, 2020 |
|
1:00 p.m. – 1:10 p.m. ET | Introduction & Opening Remarks
Raphael Bostic, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta |
1:10 p.m. – 1:25 p.m. ET | Keynote Speaker [slides]
Valerie Wilson, Economic Policy Institute |
1:25 p.m. – 1:35 p.m. ET | Q&A with Valerie Wilson
Mary C. Daly, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco |
1:35 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET | Proposal Presentations
Joshua Bolten, Business Roundtable Moderator: |
2:00 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. ET | Respondent Panel
Byron Auguste, Opportunity@Work Moderator: |
2:20 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. ET | Proposer & Respondent Panel Discussion
Moderator: |
2:35 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. ET | Presidents Conversation
Raphael Bostic, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta |
2:50 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET | Closing Remarks
Mary C. Daly, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco |
Presenter Information

Kimberly Adams Host and Correspondent, Marketplace
Kimberly Adams is a host/correspondent at Marketplace, America’s largest broadcast business program. She covers the intersection of politics and the economy from Washington, D.C., where she also serves on the board of governors of the National Press Club. Before moving to D.C., Adams was a Cairo-based freelance journalist reporting on the political, social, and economic upheaval in Egypt following the Arab Spring. Her work aired on multiple networks in the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. While reporting in Cairo, she received awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Religion Communicators Council, and the Association for Women in Communication. Prior to freelancing, Adams worked as a producer for NPR from its D.C. headquarters, covering politics, arts, culture, and breaking news.

Byron Auguste Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Opportunity@Work
Byron Auguste conceived and co-founded Opportunity@Work in 2015. From his extended family to his diverse group of friends, Auguste knows many people who found themselves stuck, unable to contribute their full talents, or to be rewarded for them.
Before co-founding Opportunity@Work, Auguste served for two years in the White House as deputy assistant to the president for economic policy and deputy director of the National Economic Council. Until 2013, he was a senior partner at McKinsey & Company. Preceding McKinsey, he was an economist at LMC International, Oxford University, and the African Development Bank.
Until his appointment at the White House, Auguste was active in many not-for-profit organizations, serving as a board trustee of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Yale University. He is an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Policy and is a board member of Hope Street Group, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and Opportunity@Work.

Ed Bastian Chief Executive Officer, Delta Air Lines
As CEO of Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian leads a team of 75,000 global professionals that is building the world’s premier international airline, powered by a people-driven, customer-focused culture and spirit of innovation.
Under Bastian’s leadership, Delta is transforming the air travel experience with generational investments in technology, aircraft, airport facilities, and, most importantly, Delta’s employees worldwide. A 20-year Delta veteran, Bastian has been a critical leader in Delta’s long-term strategy and champion of putting Delta’s shared values of honesty, integrity, respect, perseverance, and servant leadership at the core of every decision.
Since being named Delta’s CEO in May 2016, Bastian has expanded Delta’s leading position as the world’s most reliable airline while growing its global footprint and enhancing the customer experience in the air and on the ground.

Joshua Bolten President and Chief Executive Officer, Business Roundtable
Joshua Bolten is president and CEO of the Business Roundtable. Before joining BRT in January 2017, Bolten was managing director of Rock Creek Global Advisors, an international economic and regulatory policy consulting firm, which he co-founded in July 2011.
Bolten spent the preceding two years at Princeton University as a visiting professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He served in the White House under President George W. Bush as chief of staff (2006–09), director of the Office of Management and Budget (2003–06), and deputy chief of staff for policy (2001–03).
Bolten’s previous private-sector experience includes work at Goldman Sachs in London and O’Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C. Bolten received his undergraduate degree from Princeton and his law degree from Stanford.

Mary C. Daly President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Mary C. Daly is the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. As a participant on the Federal Open Market Committee, she helps set American monetary policy.
Daly began her career with the San Francisco Fed in 1996 as an economist specializing in labor market dynamics and economic inequality. She went on to become the Bank’s executive vice president and director of research. She currently serves on advisory boards for the Center for First-Generation Student Success and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She has also served on the advisory boards of the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Rehabilitation Research and Training, the Institute of Medicine, and the Library of Congress.
Daly earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a master’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University.

Rebecca Dixon Executive Director, National Employment Law Project
Rebecca Dixon is executive director of the National Employment Law Project. NELP is a respected leader in federal workers’ rights advocacy and the go-to resource for state and local worker movements, providing unmatched policy, legal, and technical assistance. As executive director, Dixon leads NELP’s work to build and contribute to a strong workers’ rights movement that dismantles structural racism, eliminates economic inequality, and builds worker power. Dixon’s motivation for advancing workers’ rights and commitment to economic justice is deeply rooted in her lived experience growing up in rural Mississippi at the intersection of race, class, and gender—characteristics that have long defined Americans’ ability to participate in their democracy and economy.
Dixon previously served as a New York State executive fellow in the office of the governor, where she worked on labor and civil rights policy. She earned a B.A. and an M.A. in English from Duke University and a J.D. from Duke University School of Law.

Ashleigh Gardere Senior Advisor, PolicyLink
Ashleigh Gardere, senior advisor to PolicyLink President and Chief Executive Officer Michael McAfee, promotes and supports the development of a shared national equity agenda. She expands place-based partnerships, shares liberating innovations, and works in transformative solidarity with local leaders to achieve policy wins. Formerly, Gardere served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at the New Orleans Business Alliance and as senior advisor to former Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
Gardere has been recognized by Living Cities as one of the nation’s “Top 25 Disruptive Leaders” for her deployment of a results-based framework to accelerate racial equity in New Orleans and advance similar strategies across the country. She is an expert in economic and workforce development, organizational leadership and culture change, and large-scale systems transformation. Gardere holds a bachelor’s degree in urban studies from New York University and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Ai-jen Poo Executive Director, Co-founder, and Trustee, National Domestic Workers Association
Ai-jen Poo is an award-winning organizer, social innovator, author, and leading voice in the women’s movement. She is the executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, director of Caring Across Generations, co-founder of SuperMajority, and trustee of the Ford Foundation. Poo is a nationally recognized expert on elder and family care, the future of work, gender equality, immigration, narrative change, and grassroots organizing. She is the author of the celebrated book The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America.

William M. Rodgers III Professor and Chief Economist, Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University
William M. Rodgers III is a professor of public policy and chief economist at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and serves as the Academy’s board chair. Rodgers also serves as treasurer for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. He is a nonresident fellow at the Century Foundation and has served in many public capacities, including on President Obama’s Department of Labor transition team and as chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2000 to 2001. He served on the U.S. board of United Way Worldwide and currently works on the board of trustees of McDaniel College.
At the state level, Rodgers serves on the Governor’s Restart and Recovery Commission and the Public State Bank board. Locally, he sits on Hopewell Borough’s planning board and economic development committee.

Valerie Wilson (Keynote) Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy, Economic Policy Institute
Valerie Wilson is a labor economist and director of the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy. She is a nationally recognized source for expert reports and policy analyses on the economic condition of America’s people of color. Prior to joining EPI, Wilson served as vice president of research at the National Urban League Washington Bureau in Washington, D.C.. She currently serves on the board of the National Economic Association.
Throughout her career, she has written extensively on various issues concerning racial economic inequality in the United States, including employment, wage, income, and wealth disparities. Her expertise in these areas has made her a highly sought-after speaker and consultant both nationally and internationally, and she has appeared in major print, television, and radio media.
Wilson earned a B.A. in economics from Hampton University, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.