Wealth inequality has long persisted in the Collin County community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances from 2019, the gap between white families and families of color is substantial when comparing wealth — all that you own minus all that you owe. The typical Black family had almost $23,000 of wealth and the typical Hispanic family had $38,000 of wealth, compared to $184,000 of wealth for a white family.
These statistics, and many others, were presented by Alfreda Norman, senior vice president of Federal Reserve Bank at the inaugural Collin County Equity Summit, presented by Collin County Business Alliance (CCBA) in partnership with the Communities Foundation of Texas. During the summit on May 20, CCBA members and other community leaders discussed the current state of racial equity in Collin County, and where we can go from here.
“Our summit today gives business leaders an opportunity to discuss some of these major issues, [and] to see the progress that we made over the last year so that the CCBA can be right in the center of helping Collin County become a much more vibrant place for everyone to live in and a much more inclusive place that we can build for the future,” Sanjiv Yajnik, chairman of the CCBA and president of the Plano-based Financial Services Division of Capital One, said at the summit.
Along with Norman, other speakers included Sarah Cotton Nelson, chief philanthropy officer for the Communities Foundation of Texas; Harry LaRosiliere, former Plano mayor; Richie Butler, senior pastor of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas; Anthony Kyles, vice president of Pepsi Co.; Bianca Chow, diversity and inclusion manager at Ericsson; and Sean Suggs, group vice president at Toyota.
Here are some time-stamped highlights from the conversation:
- 04:39 to 14:49 - Norman discussing the larger issues regarding the economic impact of racism and wealth inequality statistics.
- 14:53 to 29:15 - Nelson discussing Collin County-specific data from The Community Foundation of Texas’ Economic Opportunity Assessment.
- 29:16 to 38:24 - LaRosiliere discussing racial inequality he saw in Plano at the ground level.
- 39:27 to 01:00:00 - Butler discussing the business community and racial injustice.
- 01:01:24 to 01:45:56 - Panel discussion and Q&A about building a business blueprint toward building an equitable county with Kyles, Chow and Suggs.
