ATLANTA, November 23, 2020 – Focusing on the intersection of business and racial inequality, Goizueta Business School is building a business case competition to look at how companies can address racial injustice within their organizations. Led by MBA student Willie Sullivan 21MBA, Goizueta Business School launched the John R. Lewis Racial Justice Case Competition.
Sullivan started the idea this summer after the police shootings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. He saw businesses releasing statements on racial injustice but wondered what happens after the statement is posted. What are companies doing to address issues of racial injustice? In talking with fellow Goizueta MBA students, he found many students wanted to be involved but did not know where to start.
This first of its kind competition—named for the late Atlanta Congressman—focuses on the intersection of business and racial inequality. Companies including Walmart, Salesforce, HP, Johnson & Johnson and Truist Bank have joined as corporate partners to not only financially support the competition but also serve as models to help their organizations address structural racism. Teams from MBA programs across the country will investigate how their assigned corporation can best use its resources to address issues of racial injustice. The teams will examine disparities in wealth, health and education.
The John R. Lewis Racial Justice Case Competition currently has applications from teams from more than 40 business schools including Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, Wharton, Northwestern Kellogg and more. The application period is open through November 30. The goal is to create opportunities of education and action by engaging multiracial/ethnic teams to look beyond short-term solutions and statements to long-term, lasting change and actions addressing racial justice in major corporations.
“Long term, my dream is that because someone took part in this competition and was able to research and understand issues of racial inequality and injustice at a deeper level, that person makes those learnings a part of their decision-making process when they are in a leadership position,” said Sullivan.
About Goizueta Business School at Emory University
Business education has been an integral part of Emory University’s identity since 1919. That kind of longevity and significance does not come without a culture built around success and service. Emory University’s Goizueta Business School offers a unique, community-oriented environment paired with the academic prestige of a major research institution. Goizueta trains business leaders of today and tomorrow with an Undergraduate degree program, a suite of MBA programs (Full-Time One-Year MBA, Full-Time Two-Year MBA, Evening MBA, and Executive MBA), a Master of Science in Business Analytics, a Doctoral degree, and a portfolio of non-degree Emory Executive Education courses. Together, the Goizueta community strives to solve the world’s most pressing business problems. The school is named for the late Roberto C. Goizueta, former Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.
