Black Lives Matter: A Long-Term Commitment to Equity

Black History Month is a reminder that conversations about money can’t be separated from history — or from intersectionality. Financial systems have long excluded Black communities, and for Black women in particular, barriers weren’t just about gender or race, but the combination of both. That history still shapes access, opportunity, and financial safety today. Conversations about money often focus on individual behaviour, while ignoring how history and systems shape financial realities. For Black women, long-standing exclusion has not only limited access to wealth and opportunity, but has also shaped how money stress is internalized and experienced. When financial struggle is framed as a personal failing, we miss the broader context — and reinforce shame that never belonged there. This month is a reminder that Black women’s work and contributions have existed within systems that denied them equal access, safety, and recognition. As a community, our support can be practical — and it shouldn’t be limited to a single moment or post. Thank you to Tia Upshaw™ Award-Winning/ Intl Business Coach /Author/Serial Entrepreneur/Motivational Speaker/ Upshaw for the shoulder tap encouraging us to acknowledge and celebrate this month. Let’s be intentional about seeking out and supporting Black-owned and Black-run businesses, and about creating a ripple effect that extends well beyond this month. If you’re looking for a place to start, Tia is sharing daily highlights of Black women-owned businesses in her series, "Celebrating Black Women in Business".

Black History Month offers an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the profound influence of Black culture and the leaders who have advanced innovation, creativity, and progress. #blackhistorymonth

Black History Month offers an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the profound influence of Black culture and the leaders who have advanced innovation, creativity, and progress. #blackhistorymonth

Is “First Black” a compliment in 2026—or a revealing of continued systemic racism? The Answer: From a systemic perspective, it’s both. And that tension matters. 👉🏾 Let’s review. Calling someone the “First Black acknowledges individual excellence and perseverance in a system that historically excluded Black people. That recognition can honor sacrifice, resilience, and trailblazing impact. But in 2026, it also exposes a harder truth: If someone is still the first, the system has been structurally late. “First Black” doesn’t just celebrate achievement—it quietly asks: 1. Why did it take this long? 2. Who was blocked before? 3. What barriers remained intact until now? ➖ So the phrase becomes a mirror. It reflects courage and brilliance and it reflects a pipeline that was narrowed, delayed, or denied. When milestones keep arriving centuries after exclusion ended on paper, they signal that access wasn’t equal in practice. Here’s the distinction that keeps us honest: • Praise the person. • Interrogate the system. If “First Black” is the headline everywhere, year after year, the issue isn’t a lack of talent—it’s a lack of equitable pathways, sponsorship, decision-making power, and accountability. The goal isn’t to stop celebrating firsts. The goal is to stop needing them. Progress looks like this: • Firsts become fewer. • Norms become broader. • Representation becomes unremarkable because access is routine. Until then, “First Black” remains a dual message: A salute to the individual—and a receipt for the system. 🗝️ Key Takeaway Honor the win. Fix the structure. Don’t confuse the two. #TheERDoctor #TheFirstBlack #LevelTheField

derek's Black History Month thought of the day Day 24 Inclusion is not hard. Most of the time, being White in Black spaces is a different experience than being Black in White spaces. My White friends who worked for Black owned businesses were shocked how welcomed they were. Black agencies have had White executives and partners. It is about the qualifications to us. And a person's willingness to work with us. The same is true for worshipping, playing, and even attending HBCUs. Let a White person be invited to a Black family function. Talk about real inclusion! As long as you don't act like a squid, you'll have an amazing time. Do not sit at the dominoes or cards table if you can't play. Don't do it! I guess this is why there's a disconnect for many Blacks around how we are treated being in White spaces. If the roles was reversed, we tend not to behave the way we are treated. And I can't explain why. Why despite a long history of being treated as less than, do Black people lean into treating people equally? I have no answer. My barber did. "We ain't got time for that feces. We're too busy trying to survive."

Only a few left this month, but I sure hope you keep reading Derek's take on this (especially if you look like me)👇🏻

Black history is not a sidebar to innovation. It is foundational to it. In data, technology, and AI, Black people have always been present — building, questioning, correcting, and pushing systems to be more accountable to the people they affect. What’s often missing isn’t contribution, but recognition. Black History Month is a reminder that progress doesn’t happen without context. Data carries history. Systems reflect power. And who is allowed to shape, challenge, and govern technology matters. For Black women in data especially, this work is rarely abstract. We understand how numbers move through real lives because we’ve seen what happens when systems fail without accountability. Honoring Black history means more than celebrating milestones. It means committing to equity, responsibility, and truth in the systems being built today. That work continues long after February ends.

A reflection moment for all of my Black women professionals — especially educators and those in child-facing roles. I recently thought back to something a parent from one of my very first students once told me: “I love how you choose to dress and show up to work.” What she didn’t know was that it was intentional. I wanted the students I support to see a Black woman who educates and advocates for them while still looking like herself. Professional, but still me. Accessories, personality, natural hair — presence. Not shrinking to fit a space, but learning how to exist fully within it. Many of us were taught, directly or indirectly, that professionalism required editing parts of ourselves. Tone it down. Simplify it. Make it easier for others to receive you. But for the young people watching us — especially little Black girls — representation lives in the everyday details. It lives in seeing someone competent, respected, and knowledgeable without having to separate identity from excellence. This Black History Month, I’m reminded that sometimes advocacy isn’t a meeting, a policy, or a program. Sometimes it’s showing up authentically so someone else learns they can too. Be proud of how you look. Be intentional about how you show up. And never underestimate how powerful it is for a child to see you thriving as yourself.

Day 15 of Black History Month. Black history goes beyond documenting struggles; it highlights solutions developed locally, often in plain sight. In early twentieth-century New Jersey, Florence Spearing Randolph emerged as a significant faith leader, social reformer, and institution builder. As a pastor in Summit and later Newark, Randolph utilized the Black church as a platform for not just worship, but also civic education, labor advocacy, women’s leadership development, and social reform. She organized efforts around fair employment, women’s suffrage, and community uplift during a time when Black women faced exclusion from formal policy spaces. Ordained in 1901 in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, she was among the first Black women to hold pastoral authority in the denomination. Her influence extended beyond the pulpit. Through church-based organizing, public speaking, and coalition building, Randolph shaped discussions on labor rights, gender equity, racial justice, and civic participation throughout New Jersey. In 1908, she co-founded the Women’s Convention of the National Baptist Convention, broadening her national impact while remaining rooted in local initiatives. What makes her work particularly relevant today is not just her advocacy, but her approach to building community power. Randolph recognized that meaningful policy change requires both moral authority and organized community strength. She demonstrated that effective solutions often arise where people gather, trust is established, and leadership is accountable. Long before contemporary discussions of “community-based implementation,” Black leaders in New Jersey were already engaged in this vital work. Her legacy serves as a reminder that innovation is not always about the new; sometimes, it is about remembrance. The work continues, and so does the calling.

This month at Chief, we aren’t just celebrating Black history. We’re shining a spotlight on Black women who are redefining what it means to lead when changes to the world of work are impacting them disproportionately. Members of Chief’s Black community are seeing and experiencing these changes in real-time: how shifts in policy, the dismantling of inclusion efforts, and mass layoffs are reshaping the workforce, particularly for Black women. In response, they’re reinventing not just their own paths forward but what the future of work looks like for the leaders following in their footsteps. We asked Chief Members what intergenerational mentorship requires when the old playbook no longer applies. Swipe to read what they said: — Jenn Wells, EdD — JoQuese Satterwhite, MBA, DHA — Lesleigh Irish-Underwood — Misty J. Oratokhai, Esq. — Teresa Chapman, MDR, PHR As we continue to celebrate the expansive ways that Black women lead, Chief Members are invited to bring a plus-one to all Black History Month events at the Chief Clubhouses. Find event details and add your guest in the Chief app. Correction: Lesleigh Irish-Underwood's name was misspelled on slide 5. We apologize for the error.