In This Issue
What We’re Reading
What We’re Listening To
This Month at MCAAD
Dear Friends,
Late summer always brings up memories of vacationing with my family. I know many of us travel in August, and visiting Washington, DC, is a once-in-a-lifetime goal for many families. Millions of people visit the nation’s capital each year, with the National Mall, monuments, and museums at the top of their to-do lists. One stop I recommend is a meal at Ben’s Chili Bowl. It is an iconic Washington, DC, institution, always lively, and their half-smokes are world-famous for a reason.
Virginia Ali and her husband Ben established Ben’s Chili Bowl on August 17, 1958—66 years ago this month. The historic business took part in the civil rights movement by providing free food to people who joined the Poor People’s Campaign and the March on Washington. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in April 1968, the restaurant was able to stay open during the days of violent civic unrest that shattered many DC neighborhoods, providing food and refuge for the community when most businesses were shuttered. Still in its original location, Ben’s Chili Bowl has thrived by expanding its offerings into grocery stores and more across the region.
We look to the Alis as just one family who inspires us during this Black Business Month, but so many stories like theirs will fill our visitor center when we open next year. Read on for more about how inclusive capitalism builds a better future.
August also marks Women’s Equality Day. In this issue, we share a panel discussion on how industry leaders can seek opportunities to advance women in leadership roles. I know I’ll be listening to the curated podcast playlist on my travels this summer.
Thank you for your continued support.
Rachel Goslins
Executive Director
Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream
What We’re Reading
Entrepreneurship offers all Americans, no matter their background, a pathway to achieve financial independence and the American Dream. However, Black and minority entrepreneurs remain underrepresented in our nation’s business landscape. National Black Business Month, started 20 years ago by two San Francisco-based Black business executives, recognizes the remarkable achievements and contributions of Black-owned businesses across the US. This month, we highlight the Milken Institute’s work around inclusive capitalism.
Less diverse capital markets are inefficient and leave money on the table for asset owners, managers, entrepreneurs, and customers. A Milken Institute report, Inclusive Capitalism: Seven Strategies for Specific Action in Asset Management, builds upon the industry findings and learnings from an earlier report, The Path to Inclusive Capitalism: An Asset Owner Guide for Investment Portfolios, to establish actions that the asset management industry can directly execute to capture unrealized value and mitigate long-term risks. These strategic steps address the 1.4 percent representation of women and Black, Indigenous, and people of color in an $86 trillion industry. Each step targets either the human capital side or the allocation and governance side of the equation.
The Milken Institute recently celebrated the latest class of its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Fellowship program at its 2024 Global Conference in Los Angeles. The program, now in its second year, empowers undergraduate students from HBCUs by providing opportunities for professional development, networking, and personal growth in the financial services sector. HBCUs are overlooked as a resource for quality talent in the investment industry, despite a decades-long history of producing global leaders in financial services. The HBCU Fellowship Program is part of the Milken Institute’s broader Inclusive Capitalism initiative focused on increasing diversity and representation in the financial sector.
Congratulations to our 2024 HBCU Fellowship program cohort!
What We’re Listening To
August 26 marks Women’s Equality Day, founded in honor of the passage of the 19th Amendment, where we recognize the day women were granted the right to vote in the United States 104 years ago. This historic event created monumental shifts for women in our nation, unlocking the doors to the American Dream. As you may have heard, our historic Riggs Bank building earned the nickname “Bank of Presidents” because of its clientele. But another one of our buildings, the American Security and Trust Co., was among the first banks in the country and the first in Washington, DC, to have a dedicated space for women to bank.
One of our buildings, the American Security and Trust Co., was the first in Washington, DC, to have a dedicated space for women to bank.
Additionally, our location has served witness to many moments in American history, including the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Procession. The march is credited with giving the suffrage movement significant momentum when over 5,000 women and men, most dressed in white, marched together through Washington, DC. The parade began at the US Capitol and made its way along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Treasury Building. The marchers were heckled and harassed while the police looked on passively, some admonishing the women that they “should have stayed home where they belonged.” The women persisted nonetheless, and the march culminated in a dramatic tableau on the steps of the Treasury Building. The performances and speeches witnessed by spectators were claimed to be "one of the most impressively beautiful spectacles ever staged in this country," according to a piece in the New York Times.
Women in Greek costume perform a suffrage tableau on the steps of the US Treasury building, directly across from Riggs Bank, as part of a procession in support of women’s right to vote that took place the day before President Wilson’s inauguration in 1913.
Many incredible women have had a hand in shaping the American Dream. From trailblazing educators and pioneering public health leaders to groundbreaking entrepreneurs and financial innovators, women continue to be at the forefront of progress and change. For proof, consider that the number of women running Fortune 500 companies has reached an all-time high, though still just 11 percent. Or that women outnumber men in the US college-educated workforce, now making up 51 percent of those ages 25 and older, according to the Pew Research Center. At the same time, key industries—such as STEM, trade, infrastructure, and finance—still lack adequate female representation and entrepreneurship. To hear about how industry leaders plan to amplify women’s potential in leading the workforce of the future, check out this panel from the Milken Institute’s Global Conference, “Equity and the Economy: Elevating Women in Key Job Sectors.”
To dive deeper into important topics surrounding women today, listen to this curated playlist from Podyssey of empowering podcast episodes hand-selected by influential women leaders, including Shark Tank host Barbara Corcoran and diversity in STEM advocate Priyanka Komala. These episodes illuminate topics including gender equality, social justice, business, tech, health, and well-being. Get ready to laugh, cry, and feel mighty!
This Month at MCAAD
As promised in last month’s newsletter, we are sharing photos from the grand fireworks display on July 4 from our astonishing rooftop. While taking in the sweeping views, which include the Treasury Building, the White House, and the Washington Monument, the conversation circled to the neighboring building, Freedman’s Bank. This bank was established by President Lincoln as a safe place for the formerly enslaved to keep their funds now that they could earn money. While the venture did not ultimately succeed, the aftermath led the Black community to create their own financial institutions, giving rise to Black-owned banks and helping to propel the success of Black businesses and individuals. Read more about this important history tied to the Freedman’s Bank Building.
This month, we recognize the important contributions of women and Black businesses through National Black Business Month and Women’s Equality Day. We hope you are as intrigued as we are by the stories of Ben’s Chili Bowl and Freedman’s Bank. We hope to share more examples of achievement with you in person when we open our doors next year for the first time.
Daniel Schwartz captured Fourth of July fireworks from our campus.
