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- For millions of Americans, 2020 and 2021 marked a turning point in the journey for racial equity.
- Industry leaders doubled down on the anti-racism work they'd been toiling over for years.
- Insider highlights the top 10 people transforming diversity and inclusion in business.
- Visit Insider's Transforming Business homepage for more stories.
The echoes of protest chants, ear-splitting police sirens, and whirling helicopter rotors have subsided since the summer of 2020, but the country hasn't forgotten about the murder of George Floyd.
For millions of Americans, 2020 was a turning point in the arduous journey for racial equality. The conversation shifted from if racial justice and diversity matter to why they matter and how to achieve a more equitable society for people of color.
After Floyd's murder, phrases like "anti-racism" and "critical race theory" became more popular in the American lexicon and took on deeper meaning. Some 64% of Americans said racism was a significant problem in the country, an increase from 49% in a separate 2015 poll. Books on anti-racism flooded bookshelves and topped bestseller lists.
This year, business leaders set up in a major way. The fashion mogul Telfar Clemons championed inclusion with the emergence of what many have dubbed the "Bushwick Birkin." Heads of the world's most prominent financial institutions spearheaded multimillion-dollar investments in Black and brown communities.
In reflection, Insider has featured 10 business leaders across a variety of fields who are driving diversity, equity, and inclusion in the US. They are pushing for their companies, industries, and the broader society to become places where people from all backgrounds can not just exist, but also thrive. Insider's list includes business magnates like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and former Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, who have used their influence to try to push society toward improving the lives of marginalized communities. The list also includes names of people you might not know, like LinkedIn's Rosanna Durruthy or the anti-racist researcher Ibram X. Kendi, who have dedicated their lives to promoting inclusion.
"The murder of George Floyd highlighted something we already knew: More must be done by all of us to address systemic racism," Dimon, who recently expanded the bank's $30 billion investment on racial equity, told Insider. "This will take time. We might not always get it right, but we will keep testing, learning, building, and growing."
In the months after Floyd's death, industry leaders doubled down on the anti-racism work they'd been toiling over for years. Shannon Schuyler, cochair of the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, a pledge for CEOs to advance diversity in their workplaces, worked with dozens of companies like Best Buy and Boston Scientific to roll out new DEI plans. Jill Houghton, CEO of DisabilityIN, a nonprofit encouraging companies to increase the representation of people with disabilities, persuaded multiple top companies to sign the pledge. Cathrin Stickney, CEO and founder of Parity.org, expanded her mission to get CEOs to not only interview one woman for every leadership role, but also one person of color.
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman and the artificial-intelligence ethicist and computer scientist Timnit Gebru drove powerful conversations about equality in their industries. They and others comprise Insider's 100 most powerful people transforming business. Their courage, time, action, and advocacy have pushed the boundaries of racial equity and social justice.