By: Beth Castelucci, CEA Communications

The Need for a Minority Contractors’ Group Continues
By Rhonda Crowder

Considering the racial and gender makeup of Greater Cleveland, the construction industry has been 
underserved for over 100 years. At the same, minority contractors have continuously fought for a 
seat at the table and representation while a number of public policy, business and legal actions 
have shaped FBE (female business enterprise) and MBE (minority business enterprise) opportunities.

By: Nicole Needles, Constructor Magazine

Diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords that resound on a company's website or external collateral. The terms are inherent to the betterment of all workplaces. 

By: Troy Smith, Axios 

As Black History Month kicks off, there are plenty of ways to celebrate in Cleveland. 

By: Adam Bryant, Linked In

George Nichols III, President and CEO at The American College of Financial Services, shared powerful lessons with Rhonda Morris, the CHRO of Chevron, and me for our interview series with prominent Black leaders.

Read Full Interview

By Christina Wood, Contributing writer, CIO

According to a recent study in the Harvard Business Review (HBR), organizations of all sizes have made unprecedented investments around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the past few years. That same report, though, found that those efforts are not finding the level of success companies had hoped for. Much of the disappointment is not with recruitment, however. It’s with employee retention.

Host Dushaw Hockett is joined by Fatima Ware, the owner of Cleveland, Ohio-based WTD Mechanical. Fatima and Dushaw talk about Fatima's experience as a black woman rising through the skilled trades. The two also take a moment to discuss the state of diversity and equity in the industry and, using Fatima's real-world experience, consider some solutions that can better help the sheet metal and HVAC industry become more reflective of their communities. 

Ebony Flake, Essence

When Mel Gravely was deciding where to headquarter his business, his vision to impact the Black community led him down an unconventional, but brilliant path. 

Taneisha Fair, The Center for Community Solutions

At the beginning of this series, we discussed how declarations alone are not enough to ameliorate the unending public health crisis—racism.

Douglas J. Guth, Crain's

Over 25 years of leadership in marketing, communications and DEI work has brought Glen Shumate into the construction industry, where he develops programs and initiatives for underserved communities.