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DEI

Samia Byrd. Photo courtesy Arlington County.
Dec 1, 2023

Arlington taps community planning, housing leader

Samia Byrd has been named to lead Arlington County’s Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development beginning Jan. 3, 2024, the county announced Wednesday. Byrd’s responsibilities will include leading the next generation of land use regulations, plans, development policies and practices, housing, and community and neighborhood planning programs. She succeeds Claude Williamso[...]

On the basis of race
Oct 30, 2023

On the basis of race

Logan Barry began working as a reporter for The Progress-Index newspaper in Petersburg in 2018, less than a year before a merger placed his paper under the ownership of Tysons-based media conglomerate Gannett. In August, he joined a federal class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia alleging […]

“If you haven’t been ... in a room where you’re the only one that looks like yourself, it can be a challenge,” says Thomas Ransom, Virginia regional president for Truist Financial Corp. Photo by Shandell Taylor
Jul 30, 2023

Building equity

When BB&T recruited Thomas Ransom, a Black economics student at Hampden-Sydney College, to join its management development program in the late 1990s, he quickly had to pick up the world of banking and its culture.  The Urbanna native says he’d never met a banker before starting at BB&T and certainly didn’t know what moves to […]

CATHY T. WILLIAMS
Jan 30, 2023

CATHY T. WILLIAMS

In her two decades at the U.S. subsidiary of British heating and cooling supply distributor Ferguson plc, Williams has made the economic inclusion of women and minorities her mission. “I’m most proud of knowing I had a hand in their success,” she says of those that she has brought into the Ferguson fold of about […]

After the crisis
Jan 30, 2023

After the crisis

During summer 2020, racial inequities took center stage in the United States as protesters took to the streets after the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer was captured on video and widely disseminated via social media and news outlets. Corporate America also responded, primarily through public statements vowing […]

Pharrell Williams and Ryan Shadrick Wilson, founder and CEO of Boardwalk Collective, speak during the Mighty Dream forum. Photo by Mark Rhodes
Nov 29, 2022

Pharrell brings Mighty Dream to Norfolk

In November, Grammy-winning music superstar Pharrell Williams hosted the three-day Mighty Dream forum in Norfolk and broke some news about his Something in the Water music festival and the status of his team’s proposal to redevelop Norfolk’s Military Circle Mall site. Mighty Dream, a sequel to his 2021 Elephant in the Room business conference at […]

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Nov 3, 2022

Innovation was at center of Mighty Dream Day 3

On the third and final day of Pharrell Williams‘ Mighty Dream Forum in Norfolk, the theme was innovation. The first day‘s focus was diversity and equity, while Wednesday was largely dedicated to inspiring entrepreneurs to find and create opportunities. Panelists throughout the day Thursday encouraged attendees to innovate, seek out resources and do their homework […]

Pharrell Williams and Felecia Hatcher, CEO of Black Ambition speak onstage Nov. 2, 2022, during the second day of Williams' Mighty Dream Forum in Norfolk. Photo by Mark Rhodes.
Nov 2, 2022

Mighty Dream Day 2: Finding and seizing opportunities

The second day of Pharrell Williams‘ Mighty Dream Forum in Norfolk included poetry, news about Williams’ Something in the Water music festival and advice for entrepreneurs. Just as Mighty Dream’s first day was focused around a central theme of diversity and equity, the second day was largely dedicated to inspiring entrepreneurs to find and create […]

Mighty Dream Day 1 focuses on diversity, equity
Nov 1, 2022

Mighty Dream Day 1 focuses on diversity, equity

Grammy winning music superstar Pharrell Williams put on his business hat Tuesday in Norfolk, welcoming attendees to his Mighty Dream forum, which he likened to an event like the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, “but for marginalized communities.” The three-day forum kicked off with spoken-word poetry and a mighty boom of drums and crash […]

Arts | Entertainment | Sports
Oct 20, 2022

Pharrell’s Mighty Dream forum coming to Norfolk Nov. 1-3

Executives from Google, H&M, Universal Music Group, Yelp and McDonald’s will join Grammy winner Pharrell Williams Nov. 1-3 in Norfolk for his Mighty Dream forum, a sequel to last fall’s Elephant in the Room event. Along with panel discussions and networking events focused on making work and business opportunities more equitable and supporting and growing […]

Johnson
Jun 13, 2022

Greater Washington Partnership unveils 10-year inclusivity plan

The Greater Washington Partnership released its “Regional Blueprint for Inclusive Growth” Monday, a 10-year plan to increase equity and create a more inclusive economy in the capital region, spanning Baltimore to Richmond. The plan was launched at an event hosted by Sheila Johnson, CEO of Salamander Hotels and Resorts and an owner of three pro […]

JMU hires first DEI VP
Jun 6, 2022

JMU hires first DEI VP

James Madison University has named Malika Carter its inaugural vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, the university announced Monday. Carter will start Aug. 25. “This appointment is a great honor,” Carter said in a statement. “JMU is well positioned to become, in the field of inclusion, a lead institution that […]

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