Businesses join effort to boost minorities

The CEOs of Starbucks and Goldman Sachs will join leaders from philanthropy and academia in a new initiative to address the racial wealth gap in the United States.

The initiative is called NinetyToZero, so named for the roughly 90% wealth gap between white and Black Americans. Its leaders describe the goal as providing a roadmap for organizations to “counteract centuries of discrimination, segregation, and financial exploitation,” according to the group’s launch plans announced Tuesday.

“Every business has a responsibility — and can influence others — to advance racial equity, create opportunities for others and strengthen the communities it serves,” Kevin Johnson, Starbucks’ CEO, said in a statement.

Organizations that join NinetyToZero agree to establish internal goals for hiring and promoting Black talent. They also pledge to calculate how much money is spent with Black-owned businesses and in Blackowned financial institutions.

“Racial wealth inequity is a threat to child well-being and America’s future,” the Rev. Starsky Wilson, CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund, another inaugural member, said in a statement.