Fresh ideas bring innovation and profits – November 15, 2019
"There is a very genuine belief that without diversity of thought, companies can't innovate."– Julie Sweet
Today’s itinerary:
A look at diversity in Fast Future country,
November 15, 2019
Fast Future DIVERSITY
Minority business ownership in Tulsa, OK 
Now is the time for people of color to start small businesses in Tulsa, says Charity Marcus, a Tulsa consultant and entrepreneur. Writing in The Black Wall Street Times, Marcus cites Tulsa’a business-friendly climate and recent rankings by Forbes and other publications as one of the best places to start a business.
Tulsa has a painful history of struggle for minority-owned businesses. A century ago, its Greenwood District included one of the largest concentrations of African-American businesses in the country and was known as “Black Wall Street.” A notorious race riot in 1921 changed that, when white residents destroyed the neighborhood and massacred 300 people.
Rallying black entrepreneurs, Marcus identifies the barriers to overcome (access to resources, disparities in funding, and the challenges of business operations) and provides a list of resources for would-be business owners to consult. Only by “getting out there, investing in, and creating a strong, stable minority economy,” can black Tulsans “rely on the members of the community, not the local government,” she says.
PNC receives board diversity award 
One-fifth of seats across a broad selection of public-company boards are held by women.
DirectWomen, a national nonprofit that works to increase the representation of women lawyers on corporate boards, knows how important it is to have having diverse perspectives and leaders with diverse experiences in the C-suite.
Last week, at its annual Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Award luncheon, DirectWomen presented PNC Bank with its 2019 Board Diversity Award for its commitment to diversity in the boardroom. PNC, headquartered in Pittsburgh, currently includes four women directors, one of whom holds a law degree. They said, “Three of 10 members of PNC's executive team are also women, [demonstrating] PNC's recognition of the value women bring to its leadership team."
Vicki Henn, PNC's chief human resources officer, accepted the award, saying, "This is about so much more than just moving the numbers when it comes to diverse representation at the board level. It's about creating better-performing companies, which means better opportunities and more security for workers; healthier, more prosperous communities; and a stronger national economy."
Ohio entrepreneur creates stock images that represent all You gotta admire those entrepreneurs who invent something that the world sorely needed, and here’s one to admire: Janae Bryson, a Cleveland branding guru, was frustrated that stock photos available on the web didn’t represent her community. Unlike mere mortals, who would have just scheduled a photo shoot for the project she was working on, Bryson decided instead to create an entire stock photo library centered on people of color.
Her branding firm, Auden & Company, now hosts “Creatively Stocked,” a stock image library that portrays high quality photos of people of color engaging in a wide variety of activities. The goal is to show people of color in a positive light, serving as positive role models for young people, and to change the narrative that depicts people of color engaged in a narrow range of activities. Check out Creatively Stocked’s library of images here.
Fast Future STARTUPS
Kansas City funders throw their support behind ABODO Two Kansas venture capital firms are backing ABODO, a startup that simplifies the process of finding an apartment. The unusual arrangement has Novel Growth Partners of Mission, KS, and Fast Future Capital (no relation) of Overland Park backing the same startup.
IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
It's ... Name that Fast Future city!
Useless information that is strangely fascinating.
Click here for today's answers
MISSING SOMETHING? 
Did you miss a newsletter, or simply wish to catch up on previous issues of Fast Future? Then check out our newsletter archives here. View all complete issues of Fast Future back to our initial launch date of August 5, 2019!
REACH OUT Please click the button below to share stories and offer suggestions or comments |