Encore: How you can shrink the wealth gap. Now. | Kedra Newsom Reeves

TED Business

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Business, Modupe Akinola, Ted Business Podcast, Business Leadership Podcast, Ted Talks Business, Ted Modupe, Ted Talks

4 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2022

⏱️ 24 minutes

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Summary

Did you know that in the US the average white family has ten times as much wealth as a black family? Ten times. But while we wait for government policies to shrink that gap, we all decide where our money goes. So how can we collectively chip away at that gap, now?

In this episode, we find out. First, through a talk by BCG consultant Kedra Newsom Reeves that follows her family through generations to understand how policy helped build this gap—and what financial institutions can do now to shrink it. Then, Modupe talks with founder Shani Dowell, the first black woman in Tennessee to raise a million dollars in VC funding, about the creative techniques that anybody can use to start redistributing wealth in America.

We'll be back from break next week, but meanwhile we hope you enjoy this favorite from the TED Business archive.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective.
0:08.0	Today I want to start with some numbers that just astound me.
0:11.9	They're from a talk by Kendra Newsom Reeves that she gave virtually in 2020.
0:17.3	As last recorded by the US federal government, the median wealth for a white family in the
0:22.4	United States was $171,000 and the median wealth for a black family was just $17,000.
0:29.9	A 10x difference over 150 years after the end of slavery.
0:35.6	Did you hear that wealth of $17,000 for a black family and $171,000 for a white family?
0:42.6	And to be clear, that's the value of everything they own, car house savings account,
0:48.0	minus what they owe. Now to be honest, when I hear those numbers, they make me feel kind of helpless.
0:54.2	That 10x gap is so wide and it's been piling up for so long.
0:59.6	We can wait for policies all day and they might never come.
1:03.2	So in the meantime, it's on us to decide where our money goes.
1:07.9	So how can we chip away at that 10x gap?
1:14.4	Welcome to Ted Business. I'm Majuba Akinola.
1:17.6	And today we're going to hear a talk from Kendra Newsom Reeves.
1:21.0	She's a partner at the Boston Consulting Group and advises big financial institutions.
1:26.4	And in this talk, she's going to tell us a story about a family,
1:30.2	her family, and how financial policy has made it hard for them to build wealth over generations.
1:36.3	Then she'll offer some practical advice about what financial institutions can do to change that.
1:42.0	So she'll be covering some of the big stuff. Then I'll talk to a dear friend who's also an
1:46.9	entrepreneur and business school grad who can help the rest of us figure out what we can do.
1:52.7	So over to Kendra after a quick break.
	...

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