Executive Leadership Council and Base 11 Unite To Attain Parity For Black Americans In STEM, Corporate Directorships

Aiming to achieve parity for Black America in the next nine years, The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) and Base 11 have united to accomplish that mission.

Regarded as the pre-eminent global organization focused on developing Black corporate C-suite and board leaders, The ELC and Base 11 will work together on a national initiative to improve Black representation in strategic areas like STEM jobs (science, technology, engineering, and math) and corporate directorships.

The two nonprofits will collaborate to achieve a minimum goal of 13.4% African American representation— parallel to the Americans who identify as Black—in all STEM-related  jobs and degrees, public company boards of directors, and venture capital-funded entrepreneurs in the U.S. by 2030, per a news release.

Landon Taylor, founder and chairman of Base 11, reflected on the partnership.

“We look forward to the invaluable mentorship, expertise, and connections that The ELC’s distinguished members will provide to the young men and women we seek to empower as the next generation of leaders.”

Initially, The ELC will be involved in the newly launched Boulé Base 11 Fellows program. It is geared to provide women and men from ages 16 to 34 with the access, awareness, and confidence needed to become highly-trained and well-connected STEM leaders. The program offers professional development, mentorship, and access to a powerful network of African American men and women via the ELC and Sigma Pi Phi (The Boulé),  the oldest African American professional fraternity.

Michael C. Hyter, The ELC president and CEO, told BLACK ENTERPRISE that his organization prioritized this partnership with Base 11 because it adds a new dimension to ELC’s mission of nurturing Black talent.

He explained historically that The ELC had been broadly focused on cultivating talent across corporate industries, but it has not taken a focused approach to supporting technology forward sectors and opportunities in private equity.

“Given the importance of tech in today’s world and the opportunity that STEM and private equity careers provide with respect to creating wealth, we would be remiss to not diversify our efforts, Hyter added. “The Base 11 platform is a perfect way for us to do that.”

The capstone of the Boule Base 11 Fellows program includes developing a proposal to address parity for African Americans in wealth, health, and education. The Parity Project Innovation Challenge asks Boulé-Base 11 Fellow candidates to propose solutions that can help bridge the historic disparities that Black Americans face in key career fields and STEM industries. Gain more details on the challenge here.