Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Conference Opens Tuesday

Jesse Jackson at 2014 SCLC convention in Birmingham, Ala. (NNPA Photo by Ann Ragland)

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – After making Silicon Valley’s boldest commitment to diversity, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich will headline Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project’s 18th annual convention next week in New York City.

Krzanich will be part of a one-on-one conversation Tuesday, Jan. 13, the first day of the 3-day conference, with Rainbow PUSH founder Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. at the Sheraton New York Hotel at 53rd Street and 7th Avenue.

The high tech CEO made headlines when he recently announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that his company is dedicating $300 million to expand diversity within the company. He said in five years, Intel’s workforce will reflect the percentage of people of color and women available in the market. To help reach that target, Krzanich said, executives of the company will see their individual compensation tied directly to the progress they make toward reaching that diversity goal.

In an interview with CNET, Krzanich explained, that he hasn’t worked out all of the details of the new plan.

“It will be hard. I think it’s going to be like what we do every two years – invent Moore’s Law,” Krzanich said, referring to Intel’s goal of doubling computer chips’ processing power every other year. “We don’t know how we’re going to do it. We go and put in the engineering effort and do what it takes. We’ll do the same thing here.”

In addition to Krzanich, other headliners include former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer; John W. Rogers, CEO of Ariel Investments; Bruce Lincoln and Clayton Banks, co-founders of Silicon Harlem; Earl G. Graves, Jr., president and CEO of Black Enterprise; Peggy Wallace, managing partner of Golden Seeds Fund; Van Jones, co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire,” and retired NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady.

The fifth annual session on the business of Hip Hop will feature former Los Angeles gang leader Freeway Rick Ross and Tony Neal of the Core DJs. Jineea Butler, founder of Hip Hop Union and a columnist for the NNPA News Service, will be among those honored at the summit.

Honorary Summit Co-Chair Cloves C. Campbell, Jr., publisher of the Arizona Informant and chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), said: “We’re honored to be a part of this year’s Wall Street Project and to show our appreciation for the tremendous work Rev. Jackson has done holding Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Corporate America accountable for maintaining the diversity that makes our nation so great.”
For more information, go to: http://www.rainbowpushwallstreetproject.org.

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