Standing on the corner of Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, in the Sweet Auburn district that birthed the Civil Rights Movement — where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born and now is home to rows of thriving Black-owned businesses — you can almost hear the echoes of an earlier era.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson , who marched with King and passed away Feb. 17, was the ultimate bridge between that era of street-level protest and the world of business and finance.
In fact, Jackson was, in many respects, the most effective activist investor this country has ever produced. His genius was in recognizing that capitalism itself could be a tool for civil rights.
In the late 1990s, Jackson launched the Wall Street Project and delivered a master class in leverage. He knew that the movement for justice needed to do more than march, and so he worked with others to buy shares in hundreds of companies, transforming their annual shareholder meeting into a contested space.
He understood that changing the behavior of a Fortune 500 company required having a literal seat at the table to speak both for justice and the fiduciary duty to honor commitments to Black and brown communities, who were both citizens and customers.
Diversity is morally sound and good for the market
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
His victories were numerous, whether forcing the New York Stock Exchange, the heart of capitalism, to reverse its refusal to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day or pushing Toyota Motor Corp. to add minority-owned dealerships and expand its pool of diverse suppliers.
Jackson’s argument was simple: that what the industry celebrated as “merit” was often a closed loop of access and the same wealthier and whiter ZIP codes.
Through my work at Ohio River South, where we have helped Fortune 500 companies navigate issues of strategy, governance and stakeholder engagement, I have witnessed firsthand how CEOs increasingly view equity as a competitive advantage.
It is central to attracting top-tier talent, competing in global markets and future-proofing business models against social and political headwinds.
Long before ESG — Environmental, Social and Governance — became common corporate parlance or a talking point in Davos, Jackson understood a fundamental truth many executives are only now rediscovering: Diversity is more than a moral imperative; it is a market necessity.
It is precisely the insight Jackson provided decades ago; he just happened to be first to do so.
Anti-DEI shift has tempered language but not commitment
Despite today’s volatile political climate, I can attest that many C-suite executives remain committed to diversity, equity and inclusion as a profitable business strategy. The public rhetoric may be more cautious, but inside executive suites, the conversation is far more pragmatic: How do we sustain growth in a diverse nation without reflecting that reality in our workforce, leadership and supply chains?
At the same time, I have observed growing apprehension in those same boardrooms. Recent actions by President Donald Trump’s administration aimed at rolling back or scrutinizing equity initiatives have introduced legal and reputational uncertainty.
From the elimination of chief diversity officers in federal agencies to directives affecting contractors and grant recipients, the message has been unmistakable. Some corporations have responded by tempering language in annual reports or recalibrating public commitments, not necessarily because conviction has waned, but because risk calculations have shifted.
Jackson never argued for lower standards. He argued for widening the aperture through which excellence is identified, to include the immense, often untapped capital of minority-owned businesses and professionals. The shareholder gains that followed validated his thesis.
In an era of political retrenchment and corporate caution, the burden shifts squarely to the C-suite. Jackson’s powerful legacy has forever changed the conversation; and we are not left to wonder whether diversity powers performance — that has been proved.
The question now is whether corporate leaders will maintain the courage of their convictions wherever political winds shift.
Howard Franklin is the founder and president of Ohio River South, a Southern government affairs firm advising leading companies, nonprofits and public officials across the region.
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