CHARLOTTE — Fundraising for the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative now stands at $245.5 million, within reach of the $250 million goal set in November 2021, according to a new update from campaign leaders.
Co-chairs Malcomb Coley of accounting and consulting firm EY and retired Trane Technologies CEO Mike Lamach shared the financial figures as part of an overview of MREI’s latest work and milestones. Laura Smith, interim CEO at the Foundation For The Carolinas, the nonprofit that administers the funds, also signed the update distributed this month.
The racial equity initiative started in November 2021 with a kickoff event at Johnson C. Smith University that included commitments of $196 million from private and public sources.
Coley told CBJ that organizers anticipate reaching the $250 million target before the end of this year. Corporate and private giving has exceeded the $150 million target by $7.5 million thus far, and Coley said “there’s still interest in the community” to contribute.
The initiative has four goals: bridging the digital divide; making Johnson C. Smith (JCSU) one of the nation’s top 10 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) by increasing academic standards and boosting career-focused learning; investing in the city’s six designated Corridors of Opportunity; and spurring more diversity in hiring overall while creating a pathway for more diverse candidates among top employers for executive roles.
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