From
nytimes.com
Email Address
nytdirect@nytimes.com
Sent On
Wed, Oct 25, 2017 12:02 AM
Email Preheader Text
Black Executives Form a PAC to Back Them Up View in | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book
HTML
Black Executives Form a PAC to Back Them Up
View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book.
[The New York Times](
[The New York Times](
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
[Join Race/Related »](
[The organizers of a political action committee backed by black executives include from left, Karen and Charles Phillips, Robyn and Tony Coles, and Marva Smalls. They were at the Colesâ house on Kiawah Island, S.C., in August.]
The organizers of a political action committee backed by black executives include from left, Karen and Charles Phillips, Robyn and Tony Coles, and Marva Smalls. They were at the Colesâ house on Kiawah Island, S.C., in August. Kate Thornton for The New York Times
By [Kate Kelly](
Dozens of black executives and their spouses joined Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, as well as Eric H. Holder Jr., the former attorney general, for a private dinner in July in Bridgehampton, N.Y. Over kale salad and sea bass on the grounds of a hotel, the executives sought advice about their intermittent fund-raising efforts to address political and social issues, and for the candidates who support those causes.
Ronald Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas and a lawyer who served in the Obama administration, had the bluntest message. âYouâre wasting your money,â he recalled saying. âMy advice is: Get organized.â
It was a crystallizing moment. Many attendees had long been part of an informal group of friends and associates who raised money for philanthropies or policy issues on an ad hoc basis. At the dinner, they decided it was time to use their wealth and stature in a more formal way.
By early 2018, the group hopes to start a political action committee, creating a new fund-raising model for corporate executives of color. The group would support candidates of any political party who fit the PACâs agenda.
The main organizers â including Charles Phillips, chief executive of the software company Infor; Tony Coles, head of the biotech firm Yumanity Therapeutics; Marva Smalls, global head of inclusion strategy for Viacom; and William M. Lewis Jr., co-chairman of investment banking at Lazard â are still in the planning stages for the PAC.
They are focused on areas like access to education and employment, as well as voter participation. But they are still trying to find consensus. Many donât want to narrowly define the mandate around race, since initiatives like improving school quality and job training are as much about geography and income level.
[Edith Cooper, head of human capital management at Goldman Sachs, spoke out on LinkedIn to say she was âoutraged and frightened by what took place in Charlottesville and by President Trumpâs response.â]
Edith Cooper, head of human capital management at Goldman Sachs, spoke out on LinkedIn to say she was âoutraged and frightened by what took place in Charlottesville and by President Trumpâs response.â Graham Morrison/Bloomberg, via Getty Images
The 10 or so core organizers, who meet every other Sunday in Manhattan, have hired a lawyer to get the paperwork ready but havenât started to raise money. They plan to create three structures: a âsuper PACâ to run political ads or host events; a federal PAC to support candidates; and a 501(c)(4) group, or social welfare nonprofit, that will do a mix of the two.
âWhat weâve been doing is just writing checks for years, and we donât know what happenedâ once the money was received, Mr. Phillips said. âWeâve got to learn from the Koch brothers, do what they do, have them sign pledges.â
The core organizers plan to reach out to a group of roughly 100 black executives, lawyers and other professionals who attended the July dinner. They have mutual friends. They meet socially in places like East Hampton, N.Y., and Kiawah Island, S.C. They attend the same charitable functions, like the annual fund-raising dinner in New York City for the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
The group has been increasingly stepping into the national debate about race and inequality. Two years ago, it funded screenings so that 320,000 students across the country could see âSelma,â the movie about a crucial moment in civil rights history. After the police shootings of black people in Ferguson, Mo., and other cities, [the group raised $1 million in 48 hours]( to fund a police reform initiative. And in August, it supported Kenneth C. Frazier, the chief executive of Merck and a member of the extended network, after [President Trump criticized him](.
âWe have now entered more the ranks of corporate America with the financial wherewithal, with the thought leadership, to now engage around the issues,â said Ms. Smalls, who while growing up in South Carolina in the 1960s watched her parents help organize get-out-the-vote rallies and fight for equality in local schools.
The election last November, Ms. Smalls said, was an âinflection point.â The question now, she said, is âdefining a narrative, politically, that matters to our community.â
[[READ MORE](
Connect with us.
[]
Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo for The New York Times
Join us at 9 p.m. Eastern on Wednesdays as we examine topics related to race and culture on The Timesâs[Facebook page](. This week, our correspondents John Eligon and Rachel Swarns will be joined by Caitlin Dickerson, a reporter at The Times. Theyâll discuss the struggles in Puerto Rico and the impact of the hurricane on the islandâs identity.Â
Like Race/Related? Tell us what youâd like to see by writing to racerelated@nytimes.com, and help us grow by forwarding our newsletter to five of your friends and have them sign up at:
 [(
ADVERTISEMENT
Around the Web
Here are some of the stories that we recommend, beyond The Times.
Most doctors have absorbed bigoted remarks from patients [[Read](
Asian-American CEOs are the exception, not the norm [[Read](
What a Pen Reminds Us About Ulysses S. Grantâs Vision for a Post-Civil War America [[Read](
His Grandfather Was a Slave. Now heâs a vocal champion for Confederate monuments. [[Read](
We want to hear from you.
Weâd love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [racerelated@nytimes.com](mailto:racerelated@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback).
Want more Race/Related?
Follow us on Instagram, where we continue the conversation about race through stunning visuals.
[Instagram]( [INSTAGRAM](
ADVERTISEMENT
Editorâs Picks
We publish many articles that touch on race. Here are a few you shouldnât miss.
[End of Apartheid in South Africa? Not in Economic Terms](
By PETER S. GOODMAN
Political liberation has yet to translate into material gains for blacks. As one woman said, âIâve gone from a shack to a shack.â
[In St. Louis, Protests Over Police Violence Disrupt Economy, and Win Attention](
By JOHN ELIGON
Regional leaders are taking notice as the almost nightly rallies have prompted businesses to close and the cancellation of concerts.
[The Survivorâs Guilt of a New American Citizen](
By CONCEPCIÃN DE LEÃN
I no longer live in the shadows, but the fate of my fellow Dreamers is uncertain.
[The Woman Who Created #MeToo Long Before Hashtags](
By SANDRA E. GARCIA
Tarana Burke was helping victims of sexual harassment long before Alyssa Milanoâs tweet gave the movement a boost.
[Hollywoodâs Diversity Problem and Undocumented Immigrants](
By MONICA CASTILLO
Immigrants and their stories were long essential to studios. So why havenât they greenlit movies about the current generation of Dreamers?
[Cornelia Bailey, Champion of African-Rooted Culture in Coastal Georgia, Dies at 72](
By NEIL GENZLINGER
Ms. Bailey fought to preserve the traditions of Gullah-Geechee communities on isolated islands, where descendants of slaves have lived for generations.
FOLLOW RACE/RELATED
[Instagram] [racerelated](
Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »](
|
Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »](
ABOUT THIS EMAIL
You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Race/Related newsletter.
[Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise](
Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company
620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018
EDM Keywords (147)
yet
years
writing
woman
william
well
week
wednesdays
web
wealth
wasting
want
vision
view
viacom
use
uncertain
ulysses
two
translate
traditions
touch
times
time
survivor
support
sunday
suggestions
studios
struggles
stories
still
stature
started
start
slaves
slave
signed
sign
shadows
shack
served
see
say
said
reporter
received
reach
ranks
race
question
professionals
preserve
plan
picks
philanthropies
peter
part
pac
outraged
organizers
newsletter
much
movie
movement
money
mix
message
merck
member
matters
manhattan
love
long
lived
linkedin
like
learn
lazard
lawyer
know
july
joined
island
instagram
impact
hurricane
hotel
hired
hear
hashtags
happened
guilt
growing
group
grounds
grant
grandfather
got
gone
get
geography
fund
frightened
friends
forwarding
focused
five
fit
fight
feedback
fate
exception
equality
entered
employment
email
education
eastern
doctors
discuss
dinner
descendants
defining
decided
dallas
culture
conversation
continue
connect
concerts
color
close
cities
charlottesville
candidates
cancellation
blacks
back
august
attended
attend
associates
apartheid
agenda
advice
72
10