This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

At a time when DEI initiatives are under attack, MacKenzie Scott continues to prove that targeted, equity-driven philanthropy can be both bold and transformative. As reported by Black Enterprise ( https://www.blackenterprise.com/mackenzie-scotts-42m-gift-shows-her-tenacity-to-supporting-black-students-despite-anti-dei-efforts/ ) , Scott’s $42 million donation to 10,000 Degrees, a nonprofit helping low-income and minority students attend college, is the largest in the organization’s history. It arrives amid a nationwide rollback of diversity programs—making her gift a powerful counterstatement. Scott’s approach—unrestricted, trust-based giving focused on racial equity—mirrors the Creative Investment Research principles of impact investing. It channels capital in a counter-cyclical manner to places where traditional markets and policies have failed: in this case, toward high social return investing....by expanding educational opportunity for Black and Latino students. In a climate of ret...

What to Expect from Friday’s Jobs Report: Trouble Ahead for Black Workers.  As we await the July 2025 employment report this Friday (8/1/2025), it’s worth asking: will the data show real recovery—or more statistical illusion? Last month, Black men saw a staggering 1.7 percentage-point jump in unemployment (from 5.2% to 6.9%), losing 181,000 jobs in a single month. Black women lost 84,000 jobs, bringing their total estimated job losses January to June 2025 - a stunning 412,000 jobs lost. 📉 Our Forecast for Friday: Black unemployment: Our forecast, based on labor force estimates and previous employment data trends, suggests that Black unemployment will increase sharply, continuing the distressing trend we saw in June. Black male unemployment: We expect July to bring more bad news, with the Black male unemployment rate rising to 7.1%. Black female employment: In July, we expect Black women’s unemployment rate rising to 6.4%. 📢 Join us Friday for full analysis once the data drop. 📹...

  The recent anti-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and the imposition of broad tariffs share underlying themes that disproportionately affect non-white and marginalized communities, both domestically and internationally. These policies can be examined through the lens of systemic racism, as they often reinforce existing inequalities and hinder efforts toward racial and economic justice. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tariffs-anti-dei-backlash-twin-pillars-racist-anti-democratic-3hrze

We are in the intermediate phase of an asymmetric political warfare action involving unconventional political weapons and tactics, such as guerrilla political warfare and political terrorism, as we noted in 2016. https://lnkd.in/ddgx_Pn Still, there are viable Strategic Economic Responses to Corporate Rollbacks of DEI Initiatives in Black Communities.  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/strategic-economic-responses-corporate-rollbacks-qugte/ Email info@creativeinvest.com for more details.

  Policymakers should prioritize refining and enhancing these programs. See: https://www.blackenterprise.com/making-the-case-for-dei-reform/

In a recent episode of the Daily Show, anchor and host Charlamagne expressed a lack of faith  in the use of DEI programs in America. Charlamagne explains how he believes DEI is a front for companies to feign diversity-mindsets while maintaining predominantly white employee populations.  He gives the example of Nike who encourages diversity but has a completely white board of directors. His main qualm with this is that DEI is just serving as corporate PR, even going on to explain how DEI programs can act as evidence in a corporation’s favor when facing a civil rights lawsuit. Charlamagne is warranted in these beliefs; the world of corporate DEI is often lacking integrity and authenticity.  Where he is wrong, however, is the conclusions he draws from them.        Charlamagne claims that DEI is mostly ‘garbage’. He states that over 900 studies have shown that DEI is ineffective. He does not provide sources for these studies or mention any specifics. (Forbes Magazine not...

Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX, recently made headlines with critical remarks about Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and his stance on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). These comments have ignited a firestorm of debate, raising questions about Musk and the broader implications of his views. At the heart of Musk's success is his work in the environmental sector, particularly with Tesla's electric vehicles, which have significantly contributed to the 'E' in ESG. This makes his dismissal of the entire ESG framework somewhat self serving and paradoxical. While Musk's innovations have propelled the environmental agenda forward, his recent comments suggest a dissonance with the 'Social' and 'Governance' aspects of ESG. Musk's critique of the Social component, implied in his rejection of DEI, hints at a broader discomfort, perhaps due to his background as a child of apartheid, with initiatives aimed at leveling the ...

  US businesses are cutting back on their investments in diversity and inclusion as fears of recession grow — in a shift that experts say risks reversing the progress made since George Floyd’s murder in 2020.  The number of companies in which staff reported having access to diversity programmes — such as resource groups supporting minorities — fell to 41 per cent in 2022 after two years of gains, says employer review website Glassdoor. Diversity teams have been hit by redundancy programmes in the tech industry.  Twitter, Meta and online real estate broker Redfin have all let go of members of their inclusion teams since the start of the year.  Racial equity became a top priority for corporate America after Floyd’s murder sparked a global racial reckoning. Chief executives who had seldom before spoken out on racism — including JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon and Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan — did so. Some 271 US companies pledged $67bn towards racial equity work, acco...