On Tuesday, Feb. 16 — Thursday, Feb. 18Â the Rainbow PUSH Coalition will host the 19th Annual Wall Street Economic Summit at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in hopes of promoting inclusion, opportunity, and economic growth in public and private financial industries.
[Related: Rev. Jesse Jackson Announces 2016 Wall Street Project Economic Summit]
Founded in 1996 by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., the Wall Street Project works to ensure equal opportunities for culturally diverse employees, consumers, and entrepreneurs in the financial sector, while challenge corporate America to end the multibillion-dollar trade deficit with minority vendors and consumers.
The goal is for public and private industries to provide more business opportunities for minority-owned companies throughout the financial services industry, to improve hiring, promotion, and retention practices, to allocate more capital to minority companies, promote intra-trade relationships with diverse businesses, and increase funding for educational scholarships.
“The Wall Street Project is not an end in itself, nor a means to an end,†says Rev. Jackson. “It is an evolutionary process by which we view people of color and women as ‘value added’ and mutually beneficial proposition to American business.â€
With this year’s summit theme, Wall Street: The New Paradigm— Access to Opportunity, attendees  can look forward to empowering and informative roundtables and sessions on developing equal partnerships, market volatility, real estate investment opportunities, managing money, expanding African American board leadership, global economic expansion opportunities, and more.
This year’s summit hosts a number of esteemed panelist and speakers looking to push the Wall Street Project’s agenda forward. A few of these speakers include Black Enterprise’s President & CEO, Earl Butch Graves Jr., and Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer, Derek Dingle; along with the Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio; Chief Investment Officer of the State of Illinois, Rodrigo Garcia; Founding CEO of WorldofMoney.org, Sabrina Lamb; President of Morehouse College, Dr. John S. Wilson Jr.; President of Morgan State University, Dr. David Wilson; President of Bowie State University; Dr. Mickey L. Burnim; and a plethora of others. The Wall Street Project has an inspiring line-up of CEOs, founders, politicians, executives, and educators looking to enlighten the masses at this year’s economic summit.
Co-Founder of BET and Founder and CEO of Salamander Hospitality, Sheila C. Johnson will be honored at the summit along with John Thompson, CEO of Virtual Instruments and Chairman of Microsoft. Summit attendees will close days of empowerment with a performance by the lead singer and original member of Earth, Wind, and Fire, Philip Bailey.
Register now to attend the 19th Annual Wall Street Project Economic Summit to be an advocate for prosperity and change. For more information on the Summit and the work of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Citizenship Education Fund, be sure to visit www.rainbowpushwallstreetproject.org.