Building Truly Inclusive and Diverse Pathways - What's Working and What's Not

The concept of inclusive growth has become central to economic development due to rising economic inequality and its effects on human well-being and prosperity. Indeed, despite the longest economic expansion in US history through much of the 2010s the Gini index reached 0.485 in 2018—the most inequitable level of income distribution recorded in the United States since the Census Bureau began tracking the metric. This inequality has disproportionately affected communities of color, women, those less physically abled, and certain geographies. For example, between January 1972 and December 2019, other than during the aftermath of recessions, the unemployment rate for Black workers has stayed at or above twice the rate for white workers. The impact of shrinking such inequities would be huge: eliminating disparities in wealth between Black and white households and Hispanic and white households could result in the addition of $2 trillion to $3 trillion of incremental annual GDP to the US economy. This panel will explore what’s working (and highlight what’s not) to truly build inclusive and diverse pathways.