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Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The 15% Pledge is a mixed blessing, Lizzo covers Vogue, and we get a refresher on allyship. Have a wonderful weekend.
– Action-driven allyship. After the grand jury decision this week to not bring charges against police officers for Breonna Taylor’s killing and the pain it inflicted on so many in the Black community, it’s a good time to reflect on what it means to be an ally in the fight for racial justice and equality.
We got a course in allyship yesterday as Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women Summit 2020 kicked off with a few special sessions ahead of the full virtual program next week. In short, we learned that allyship is all about action.
“Being a good ally is about taking concrete steps to turn your good intentions into actions,” Carin Taylor, chief diversity officer at Workday, told the virtual panel that was moderated by Fortune‘s Ellen McGirt. Allyship, Taylor said, is about “taking a stand for those who may have a smaller voice” in a given organization and “driving equity for everyone.”
At Microsoft, the “allyship journey” is about developing more self-awareness and and positive habits, said Lindsay-Rae McIntyre, corporate vice president and chief diversity officer at the tech giant. It’s important to recognize allyship as “a behavior,” McIntyre said, and “something we work on every day” in the workplace.
Barbara Whye, chief diversity and inclusion officer and corporate vice president of social impact at Intel, said that the chipmaker has tried to “make sure every team inside Intel has an ally who can ensure peoples’ ideas are being heard, and that there’s a safe environment for people.”
And she shared a piece of advice that really brought the message home, especially in the age of social media campaigns and hashtags: “It’s best if other people call you an ally—you can’t self-proclaim it. You’re deemed an ally by others, based on your actions and words.”
Claire Zillman
claire.zillman@fortune.com
@clairezillman
Today’s Broadsheet was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Pros and cons. The 15% Pledge, started by Aurora James, urges retailers to stock Black-owned products on their shelves. But those deals can be a mixed bag for these small Black-owned businesses. Founders sometimes have to hand over as much as a 50% to 60% cut of their sales to be sold on retail shelves. Bloomberg
- Double leave for dads. France now has one of Europe's most generous paternity leave offerings. The country doubled its parental leave for fathers from 14 to 28 days—and new dads will be required to take at least a week off after their children are born. New York Times
- Good as hell. Vogue has a true star on its cover this month: Lizzo. The singer is profiled by poet and writer Claudia Rankine: Vogue
- Out of mind. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is profiled by Elle, and she tells the magazine that running Congress is what's on her mind—not the occupant of the White House. "I don’t even think about him, to tell you the truth,” she says. “This is the most conversation I’ve had about him, certainly all day.” Elle
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Annie Young-Scrivner is set to step down as CEO of Godiva. Fnatic named Soraya Sobh head of talent management. At Age of Learning, Mia Rondinella is now chief strategy officer; Amy Castillo is VP of brand growth; Lacy Plache is VP of data and analytics; and Cristine Reynaert is deputy general counsel.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Pivot power. In another MPW Summit special session, we heard from three executives who have led their companies—or conventions—through extraordinary pivots over the last few months: Airbnb's Catherine Powell, Peloton's Dara Treseder, and Stephanie Cutter, who planned the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Fortune
- Unequal outcomes. It's time for health care providers and public health efforts to "face up to ... and tackle" the unequal health outcomes experienced by white people and people of color—especially Black people, says Rhonda Mims, regional VP of community affairs at Centene Corporation. At the third MPW Summit session, she joined other leaders in health care for a discussion about medical racism. Fortune
- HBCU recruiting. If companies don’t recruit from historically Black colleges and universities, they’re missing out on promising employees, writes South Carolina State University business school dean Barbara L. Adams in a Fortune op-ed. Fortune
- Stress less. COVID showed why we need to make financial literacy a national priority, writes Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, president of the Charles Schwab Foundation and SVP at Charles Schwab & Co. Financial literacy, she argues, would help with the financial stress so many families are facing. Fortune
ON MY RADAR
Young women take a frontline role in Thailand’s protests New York Times
Gillian Flynn takes her paranoia to television New York Times
Everyone's getting tired of viral tweets about men MEL Magazine
PARTING WORDS
"Those are the necessary ingredients in running for office: perseverance, grit, and authenticity."
-Sarah McBride, expected to become the first transgender state senator, on the qualities that make LGBTQ people especially prepared to run for office
