As President and CEO of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson leads a more than century-long effort to fight for economic inclusion by building Black political, social, and economic power. This week, I spoke with him about how to work with the private sector, including the recently released Congressional Black Caucus report, and why he says not pursuing inclusion is “not a growth strategy. It’s a shrink strategy.” Below is our conversation, edited for clarity.
Rhett Buttle: Throughout its history, the NAACP has worked to give Black Americans a fair opportunity in all aspects of life. Tell me about the long arc of the NAACP’s work.
President Johnson: The NAACP was established in 1909 in reaction to mob violence where African Americans and others on average were lynched once a day in this country, but we also understood that we had to have a proactive mission in our advocacy and voice to improve quality of life. A key factor in this democracy to do that is to promote and support entrepreneurship and business growth so African American communities can have the wherewithal to build the type of infrastructure, institutions, and community health necessary to fully engage in this society.
Rhett Buttle: In your work, you’ve talked about challenges with our economy and potential threats to our democracy – can you expand on that and what the business community should know?
President Johnson: I think the business community must understand and appreciate this because they already know we are the most diverse society than we have ever been, and we need to maximize the brain power that individuals bring to bear from multiple communities. It has to be an approach that’s both inclusive and based on equity and opportunity. Where would we be in this society if we did not allow the most capable and talented individuals across communities, across gender identity, and across racial backgrounds to be fully engaged? Our secret sauce as a leading democracy and one of the strongest economies in the world is not being a monolithic society. It’s because we have so many diverse individuals that have the intellectual ability to be creative and the wherewithal to contribute. Corporate America must tap into that to a much greater extent in order for us to continue to realize our full potential.
Rhett Buttle: You’ve spoken a lot about the effectiveness of community centric leadership and energetic leadership. What do you mean by this and what would you say business leaders can learn from this?
President Johnson: Egocentric leadership in a social justice context places all of the responsibility on the personality, i.e., the charismatic speaker. What we have learned from the social justice frame and quite frankly, in many ways from the corporate frame, is that when you tap into all of the gifts and talents that people bring to the table, it really allows for a strengthening and broadening of one’s perspective and outcome. If there’s interest that everyone buys into and works towards, the outcome is much longer lasting, more effective, and creates the greatest potential. That’s very similar in a corporate space. When you have employers and workers who are aligned, looking in the same direction, have respect for the product, and perfecting their craft in a way that’s mutually beneficial to the individual workers and the corporate entity, everyone benefits. It is not about one person. It’s about the collective whole.
Rhett Buttle: How does the NAACP work with the private sector and where do you see the role of the private sector being in advancing the NAACP’s priorities over the next few years?
President Johnson: Our goal is to work to ensure the private sector can tap into the most qualified, creative and talented individuals or entities that our community could bring to bear. So, we work hard to ensure that the corporate sector is going to tap into that. We also help them recognize that there are so many untapped markets right here in the United States, and that every community brings nuances to the table. There’s no monolithic community that I’m aware of. If Corporate America has the type of decision makers to represent a broader perspective of the American experience – that’s inclusive of the African American experience, which is not monolithic – it could increase its potential to tap into new markets and broaden its ability to be a more profitable and successful company.
Rhett Buttle: In addition to working with larger companies, the NAACP also has programs for small businesses. If a small business owner wanted to seek the help and support of the NAACP, how should they do so?
President Johnson: We accelerated our small business outreach during Covid-19 and as a result of the BeyGOOD Foundation asking if we could assist them in identifying African American-owned small businesses and targeted areas, we realized that if we announced it, we would have been inundated with requests. So, we partnered with an AI technology company called Hello Alice to receive feedback from the African American business community across the country so much so that NAACP has one of the largest communities on the Hello Alice platform. As a result, we are able to share timely information around grants that we have provided, Small Business Administration loans, and other information that many small businesses would not have access to. This partnership has expanded our reach to work with over 100,000 African American-owned small businesses across the country to really deepen their ability to be an effective company and position themselves for growth.
Rhett Buttle: The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) just released its report measuring corporations on inclusion. What are your thoughts on the report’s findings?
President Johnson: We absolutely support the CBC report. It is the right signal to send that it should be a requirement of corporations to ensure that every individual – regardless of their race, ethnic background, religious beliefs, or gender – be included in consideration for employment and for contracting opportunities because that is what makes, not only this country the country that we are, but that is the best reality of business growth. Business diversity is necessary to ensure we continue to progress as a society under our system. We are the most diverse we’ve ever been in this country and it would be a bad business decision to not tap into all of the potential that has otherwise been left on the sidelines and not considered. We must accelerate diversity because it’s through that diversity that we have the greatest potential to grow as a corporate community.
Rhett Buttle: Is there anything else that you would like to add?
President Johnson: The corporate community should not fall into the political trap of the current landscape. That trap is self-defeating. It is not in the best interest of shareholders. It is not a growth strategy. It’s a shrink strategy. The consumer base is more diverse. The customer base is more informed and to make small-minded temporary transactions based on the political climate is the wrong direction for any company. Consumers have long memories and if you turn your back on consumers today, they will turn their back on you tomorrow, thus devaluing your company and not returning value to shareholders if the companies are publicly traded.