Page 92 - Forbes - USA (October 2019)

PROMOTION

he ELC’s North Star—more black
board directors and CEOs—is the
bold but attainable goal for ELC
T members, described by CEO Skip
Spriggs without exaggeration as “850 of the
most powerful black corporate executives in
the world.” ELC members are all either CEOs
or within one or two reports of their CEOs, so
they are within reach of these CEO and direc-
tor roles. The ELC put its reputation on the line
several years ago when it added numbers to
the general statement: increasing blacks in
the C-suites of major corporations by 500
and black directors by 200.
This overarching goal at the same time
illuminates a broader purpose for The ELC,
turning its powerful collective voice beyond
what it does to demonstrate why it does it.
“The ELC is guided by a newly formed
purpose statement: to open channels of
opportunity for the development of black
executives to positively impact business and
our communities,” says Libi Rice, ELC vice
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“We will continue to advance the professional
needs of our members so they in turn will be
in the best position to help build the next gen-
eration of black corporate leaders—but also
The ELC’s goal—its North Star— the increasing number of future black entre-
preneurs and our communities overall.”
is to increase the number of blacks “Business is evolving, corporate America is
evolving,” says Tonie Leatherberry, The ELC
on the top 500 corporate boards and Board’s chair, a principal at Deloitte & Touche
LLP and president of the Deloitte Foundation.
LQ WKHLU &(2 RIŻFHV DQG WR NHHS WKH “We’re evolving too, focusing more on our
mission,” adds Spriggs. “It’s the right time for
pipeline behind them full of the next The ELC to focus on addressing the longer-

term challenges of our community.”
generation of leaders. That North Star “Pivoting to the new” is how Chloe Barzey,
a member of The ELC Board’s Member-
also speaks to a deeper purpose, ship Committee and a managing director at

Accenture North America, labels this orga-
FDOOLQJ PHPEHUV WR żH[ RXU SRZHUIXO nizational evolution, introduced publicly last

week at The ELC’s Annual Recognition Gala
collective voice for our black community in Washington, D.C., to a sold-out audience of

2,300 members, business and policy leaders
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Signaling The ELC’s already powerful and
SKIP SPRIGGS, CEO, influential draw, more than 40 CEOs gath-
ered immediately before the Gala for The
THE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
ELC’s inaugural CEO GameChanger Confer-
ence. Behind closed doors, CEOs and their
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