Race and Power monument

Leadership for Society
Race and Power

In the Fall of 2020 and Winter of 2021, Stanford Graduate School of Business’ Prof. Brian Lowery hosted a series of critical and high visibility conversations to examine the way race interacts with structures of power, and how systemic racism manifests itself in institutions and our daily lives. Each conversation is available here and as a podcast.

Session 1

Sept 21, 2020; 6:15pm PST

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Dismantling Institutional Racism

“We Need to Stop Tiptoeing Around Race.” In the midst of a powerful social justice movement, Quita Highsmith, VP and Chief Diversity Officer at Genentech, and Simone Hill, MBA/MA ’14, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategist at Omidyar Network, work to steer their organizations toward a new definition of corporate responsibility and leadership.

Quita Highsmith

Chief Diversity Officer, Genentech

Simone Hill

Simone Hill

Equity and Belonging, People Operations at Omidyar Network

Session 2

Sept 28, 2020; 6:15pm PST

Systemic Racism: Racism without Racists

Dean Lowery discusses the nature of systemic racism and how it manifests itself through technology with Dr. Charlton McIlwain, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU and Author of “Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter.”

Charlton Mcllwain

Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. Author of Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter

Session 3

Oct 5, 2020; 6:15pm PST

Capitalism: A Fraught History

In a country where policies blocking Black people from obtaining mortgages, land, and capital have created an immense wealth gap between Black and white Americans that persists to this day, inequality is a threat to our democracy, says Mehrsa Baradaran, professor of law and associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion at University of California, Irvine, and the author of How the Other Half Banks and The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap.

Mehrsa Baradaran

Mehsra Baradaran

Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at University of California, Irvine. Author of How the Other Half Banks and The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap

Session 4

Oct 12, 2020; 6:15pm PST

Policy: System Design

“The State of the Nation Is Dependent on Getting Equity Right.” As the U.S. gets closer to becoming a nation where the majority of its citizens are people of color, Angela Glover Blackwell, the founder in residence of PolicyLink, is focused on innovating and improving public policy to ensure opportunity for all low-income people and communities of color.

Angela Glover Blackwell

Founder in Residence of PolicyLink

Session 5

Oct 19, 2020; 6:15pm PST

Housing: The Linchpin of Racial Equity

Dean Lowery discusses the origins of US housing disparities and racial wealth gap with Professor Doug Massey of Princeton School of Public and International Affair and Daniel Lurie, Chief of Policy for the Office of the Mayor at City of Chicago. This session was recorded.

Doug Massey

Doug Massey

Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at The Princeton School of Public and International Affair

Daniel Lurie

Chief of Policy, Office of the Mayor at City of Chicago

Session 6

Oct 26, 2020; 6:15pm PST

Politics: Race and Power

“We Don’t Know Each Other Anymore in This Country.” Just a week before a divisive presidential election, Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts, and a candidate in the Democratic primaries for the 2020 presidential election, and Jeff Flake, the Republican former U.S. Senator from Arizona and former member of the House of Representatives, shared their insights on the state of the American government as it struggles to maintain its institutions in the face of deep racial inequities.

Jeff Flake

Jeff Flake

US Senator (2013-2019) and member of the House of Representatives (2001-2013) from Arizona

Deval Patrick

Deval Patrick

Governor of Massachusetts (2007-2015), Democratic candidate in the US 2020 presidential election

Session 7

Nov 2, 2020; 6:15pm PST

Change: From Protest to…

Dean Lowery talks with Rashad Robinson, President of Color Of Change, about what it would take to eradicate racism in this country.

Rashad Robinson

Rashad Robinson

President of Color of Change

Session 8

Nov 9, 2020; 6:15pm PST

Narratives - Part 1: Competing Histories

Dean Lowery talks about the powerful influences that shape the narrative of a nation with Dr. Spencer Crew, Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture and Dr. Clayborne Carson, Founder of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

Dr. Spencer Crew

Dr. Spencer Crew

Director of the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Smithsonian Institution

clayton carson

Clayborne Carson

Founder of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University

Session 9

Nov 16, 2020; 6:15pm PST

Narratives - Part 2: The Stories We Tell

Dean Lowery talks about race and narrative construction with a woman who holds the power to craft the stories that influence the way we see and understand the world: Dana Canedy, Senior Vice President and Publisher at Simon & Schuster, former Administrator of The Pulitzer Prizes, and New York Times bestselling author.

Dana Canedy

Dana Canedy

Senior Vice President and Publisher at Simon & Schuster, former Administrator of The Pulitzer Prizes, New York Times bestselling author.