What’s left after “diversity and inclusion”?

THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO THE PAIN SHOULD BE CLOSEST TO THE POWER.

— CONGRESSWOMAN AYANNA PRESSLEY

I want to see more women and people of color in financial services, in both client facing and non-client facing investment-related roles. But having equitable representation should not be the endgame if it means us lacking the agency and power to change how the work is done and what impact it has on the world. 

Having the technical skills is important. We also need to prioritize both developing a critical language to question how financial education, tools, and products play out on a broad scale as well as claiming our authority to reimagine and build alternatives. 

Diversity -and- inclusion in financial services is important, but if we do not remold the industry itself, we become cogs in a broken machine that works for some, excludes many, and exploits the majority.