Blair Taylor, president & CEO of  the Los Angeles Urban League, spoke before an audience of roughly 300 business, government, non-profit and academic leaders, sharing his thoughts on building blocks for tomorrow’s workforce. He told them about taking a delegation of students from Crenshaw High School to China to observe commerce and culture within the superpower.  While in Beijing, the group visited one of the country’s top-ranked high schools, gaining an up-close view of its advanced level of instruction and dedication to academic excellence.

After the group completed the tour, Taylor said one Crenshaw student asserted: “We can do what they do. We just have to work harder.”

That message, one of continuous skills upgrading fused with unyielding persistence, was delivered by participants of our 20/20 Vision Forum: Job Creation and Career Opportunities in the Next Economy, one of a series of such events presented by BLACK ENTERPRISE in partnership with Walmart.  The LA event, like one held in Washington, DC in early 2010 and another in New York this past June, was designed to bring together the best minds to conjure up constructive options to put a dent in short-term unemployment and propel long-term career advancement for African Americans.

Of course, African Americans have suffered the hardest blows in this economy. The Black unemployment rate continues to hover around 16%, twice the rate of Whites. And we continue to witness a government solution to the jobs crisis paralyzed by political gridlock. As President Obama continues to push the American Jobs Act—first as an expansive $447 billion package and then as the first $35 billion “bite-sized” piece to employ teachers and first responders—has been blocked by Senate Republicans. Now, the President is planning to use executive action to move his program forward because “we can’t wait.”

Keynote Speaker Tavis Smiley says that as individuals seek the path to employment and entrepreneurship to “define their mission.” He, however, took the opportunity to challenge the President on his vigilance to solve the jobs crisis.

Alicia Villarreal, Regional Representative for Labor Secretary Hilda Solis who provided the market outlook, says the president has “drawn a line in the sand”regarding the jobs act. Also, she says the Labor Department has a number of initiatives to expand opportunities including “one-stop career”operations like the Compton Worksource Center which can screen applicants and “serve as employment agencies for companies.”

Others seek remedies to not only address Black unemployment but expand ranks of high-ranking officials. For example, BET founder Robert Johnson, who owns three BE 100s companies, recently proposed what he calls the “RLJ Rule,” calling for the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies to voluntarily consider a more diverse pool of qualified candidates when filling top-level job vacancies and contracting suppliers. His proposal is similar to the NFL’s “Rooney Rule,” a 2003 directive mandating pro teams to consider minority candidates for senior positions.

Tavis Smiley adds his thoughts to the discussion

To fill the power pipeline, Arnold Donald, president and CEO of the Executive Leadership Council, the pre-eminent organization of top-ranking African American corporate managers,  announced last week a call to action for corporate America  to increase the ranks of African Americans CEOs or C-Suiters by 500 and collective number of Black board members by 200 within the next five years.

Our event offered urgency for employment and advancement of large number of African American managers as well as rank-and-file. When it comes to near-term job creation, long-term career reinvention or development of the next generation of talent, our forum participants revealed three critical drivers: the competitive impact of globalization, application and connectivity of information technology, and entrepreneurial development. These issues become more pressing in an environment with an increasingly high VUCA rating—“volatility, unpredictability, complexity and ambiguity”—a concept framed in That Used To Be Us, the recently-released book authored by columnist Thomas L. Friedman and international affairs expert Michael Mandelbaum.  Despite such uncertainty, Johann Schleier-Smith, co-founder of Tagged, a social discovery site with more than 100 million users worldwide, says “there’s a huge risk for not doing anything.”

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Hajj Flemings breaks down the difference between a brand and commodity

One panelist Bishop Noel Jones, senior pastor of City of Refuge and the force behind the public-private partnership United Job Creation Council in Los Angeles, maintains the first step is “to be global in our thinking because technology has shrunk our world.”  So he stresses training an emerging and existing workforce with a focus on competition that is no longer national but global.  For quite some time, contenders have not been contained to California, New York or Illinois but can be found in China, India, Brazil and other parts of the world—across a range of industries.

In fact, Taylor’s assessment was more frank: “African Americans are the only group in this country with no connection to the global economy,” citing as one example the stronger ties the Chinese government and businesses have with Africa.

That’s why it’s important, Taylor says, to learn languages such as Spanish and Mandarin to expand your portfolio of opportunities. To make his case, he offered the example of a bilingual American broadcast journalist who was able to find employment in China as a news anchor.

Identifying hot spots like IT, mobile services, healthcare, green jobs, genetics and elderly services can prove to be a smart move. In most cases, you need the right skills demanding “years and years of preparation,” says Curtis Silvers, area director of the Southern California region of UNCF. Large numbers of mid-career workers can gain retraining to become employable in such fields. But Silvers, along with Jones and Taylor, believe the next generation will gain the best shot at being positioned to advance and innovate within such occupations—that is, if they gain sufficient education in K-12 and at the collegiate level.

Always use new technology to your advantage though.  Social media strategist Hajj Flemings demonstrated how to bolster your personal brand to remain relevant in his comprehensive tutorial on how to use social media and online tools.  He maintains that inviduals must develop a personal branding map, a visual representation of your relationships and “how you are wired positions you for greater impact in the space you desire to dominate. ” How do you achieve this goal? Create an idea, develop quality content, follow a detailed strategy and pursue it with passion. Says Flemings: “You should own your genius.”

Black Enterprise CEO Earl "Butch" Graves, Jr. (second from left) poses with a few of the day's panelists

Another key to job creation and advancement: entrepreneurship, of course. Panelist Magnus Greaves, founder and CEO of TheCASHFLOW and advisory board member of 100 Urban Entrepreneurs, described his model to foster business development. Greaves’ incubator includes selection of winners of his business pitch competition who receive $10,000 in capital and mentorship to boot.  BLACK ENTERPRISE has partnered with Greaves’ organization in producing the Elevator Pitch Competition at our annual Entrepreneurs Conference.

Greaves says one size doesn’t fit all: different types of entrepreneurs need different skills. However, all must have passion, dexterity and guidance to create sustainable enterprises: “Entrepreneurs must develop skills and platforms to pass on to other entrepreneurs.”

To achieve that end, Schleier-Smith advises budding entrepreneurs to take an “honest assessment of their skills and to set yourself up with a great mentor.” He speaks from experience: Schleier-Smith’s was counseled by one of the co-founders of LinkedIn.

Timothy A. Reese, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of the Minority Angel Network, has identified crucial steps: Attend business forums to discover how financiers make investment decisions and “learn the difference between equity and a paycheck.”

Don’t fret about setbacks. Our panelists admitted that they found the path to success through failure. Says Reese: “I was fired once and that was all it took for me to become my own change agent.”

Extra's AJ Calloway and producer Pharrell Williams show their support for UNCF (UNCF)

In this episode of The High Life, host Tai Beauchamp takes us inside UNCF‘s 66th annual gala in support of education and scholarships for African-American students. At the event, which raised $2.8 million, celebrities, business leaders, politicans and other community leaders gathered to honor businessman and attorney Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., along with the presidents of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities.

With guests who included Pharrell Williams, Roberta Flack, Jordan and Extra‘s AJ Calloway, the event highlighted the organization’s 40 years plus of living up to its adage: “A mind is a terrible thing to waste” and raising more than $30 billion for students in need. Here, Tai talks to Jordan, Flack and others about the importance of education and giving back in their own lives.

Video filmed and edited by Melissa Johnson

African American contractors are being shut out of stimulus contracts, according to a report by the Transportation Equity Network, a national grassroots organization. Of the $163.8 million distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation for street, highway, and bridge construction, no black-owned firms have received any awards, through Dec. 1, 2009.  For more, read “Black Firms Shut Out of Stimulus Projects” at BlackEnterprise.com.

FEDERAL CONTRACTS (USDOT direct to qualified federal contractors only)
Stimulus funds contracted for street, highway, and bridge construction – Total: $163.8M

Allocated to women-owned businesses: $9.7M (5.9%)

Allocated to all minority-owned businesses: $16.8M (10.3%)

Allocated to Hispanic-owned businesses: $4.7M (2.9%)

Allocated to black-owned businesses: $0

Source: Transportation Equity Network

UNCF Colleges More Affordable Than Their Peers

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The 39 historically black college and universities that are members of the United Negro College Fund cost less than comparable institutions, according to Affordability of UNCF-Member Institutions 2006-2008, a study commissioned by the UNCF. Peer institutions were automatically generated using data from the National Center on Education Statistics. Total charges– which include tuition, fees, room and board — were on average 28% lower, or $5,803 less, in 2006-2007, and 31% lower, or $6,625 less, in 2007-2008.

Perceptions of Financial Literacy Inflated

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There’s a disconnect between what African Americans think they know about financial literacy and what they actually know, according to a study by FINRA Investor Education Foundation. More than half assessed their financial knowledge as high, but on a financial literacy test about interest rates, inflation, bonds, mortgages, and risk, on average, African Americans answered only 2.3 out of five questions correctly. Overall, respondents answered 2.7 questions correctly.

President Barack Obama signs the HBCU executive order. (Source: White House)

President Barack Obama signed the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities on Friday afternoon, proposing $98 million in new money for these historic institutions for the 2011 fiscal year.

“Education reform has been a top priority of my administration,” said Obama. “We’re not only doing this because these schools are a gateway to a better future for African Americans; we’re doing it because their success is vital to a better future for all Americans.”

The executive order includes a 5%, or $13 million, increase for the Strengthening HBCUs Program and support for the $85 million in mandatory funding for HBCUs in the pending Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. The president’s budget would increase the Federal Pell Grant program from $18.2 billion in the 2008-2009 award year to a proposed $34.8 billion in 2011-2012. For HBCUs this means an increase of about $400 million in Pell Grants since the start of the Obama administration.

The budget also includes $20.5 million to provide HBCUs with access to financing for the repair, renovation, and construction or acquisition of educational facilities, instructional equipment, research instrumentation, and physical infrastructure. This funding will support $279 million in new loans in 2011, more than $100 million more than in 2010. The Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institution program would receive $3.1 million, a 5% increase from previous years.

The nearly $100 million proposed is in line with Obama and his administration’s efforts to increase the number and percentage of college-trained Americans within the next 10 years.

“In order for our country to achieve the president’s 2020 goal of doubling college graduation rates, we must direct targeted resources to HBCUs and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs),” says Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund. “The changing demographics of our nation require a renewed focus on HBCUs and the students they serve.”

This initiative originated during President Jimmy Carter’s administration in 1980 to strengthen and expand the capacity of historically black colleges and universities to provide quality education for African Americans. It 1981 it expanded into a government wide effort under the Regan administration. It has been renewed by each president since.

Dr. William R. Harvey, president of Hampton University, will serve as chairman of the Presidential Advisory Board on HBCUs. In that role he will advise the president and the secretary of education on methods, programs, and strategies to strengthen HBCUs.

“I applaud President Obama for his vision and emphasis on the role that Historically Black Colleges and Universities play in this country,” stated Harvey.” I look forward to serving his administration and working with other members of the advisory board to advance the cause of education, research and public service.”

Publisher Earl G. Graves Sr. and attorney Caroline Kennedy (seen with the Rev Al Sharpton and UNCF CEO Michael L. Lomax) were honored Thursday night at the United Negro College Fund's 65th anniversary dinner in New York. (Source: Getty Images)

At the United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) 65th anniversary dinner in New York, Black Enterprise magazine publisher Earl G. Graves Sr. and attorney Caroline Kennedy received awards of distinction for their commitment to the education of black students.

In addition, guests were surprised to learn from Exxon Mobile Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson that Exxon would immediately donate $500,000 and supply a matching grant of another $500,000 to the fund.

The UNCF supports more than 60,000 students that attend 39 historically black colleges and universities through scholarships and educational development. The organization is also known for “An Evening of Stars,” formerly the “Lou Rawls Parade of Stars,” a nationally televised event to raise money for HBCUs. Proceeds from the dinner will support the fund.

After UNCF President Michael L. Lomax welcomed the guests, each award recipient spoke briefly to give their gratitude to the UNCF and to HBCUs.

“Receiving this award is an indication that what I did was meaningful and substantive. I know it has made a difference,” says Graves, who has donated generously to HBCUs throughout the years.

Graves, a graduate of Morgan State University, received the Frederick D. Patterson Award for his career accomplishments and commitment to minority education and philanthropy. The award is named after the Tuskegee University president who founded UNCF in 1944.

“Earl Graves has been a role model for generations of black college students who, before Black Enterprise, didn’t really think that starting their own business or working in corporate America was much of an opportunity or an option for them,” Lomax says. “He’s been a role model, a champion, and a trailblazer in his work. That has been great for our students.”

Graves, a member of the board of directors at Howard University, requested that his grandson Carter Graves join him on the stage as he accepted his award. “I have taken each grandchild, in order of age, to an event like this. Carter is number six of the total eight,” says Graves. “I want him to understand the importance of this organization and what it means to the students and the institutions that it helps. I also want him to be exposed to an audience of 1,600 people, the majority of whom will be African American, who have had great achievements.”

In accepting the UNCF’s President’s Award for her work on behalf of New York City’s public schools, Caroline Kennedy said she was really gratified to see the improvements in student achievement in New York public schools over the last six years.

“Receiving this award has a special meaning to me because my father gave the money from his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Profiles in Courage to the UNCF, so this is an association that our family is really proud of,” Kennedy says. “There is nothing really more important than education in an individual’s life and for our country.”

John H. Jackson, president and CEO of The Schott Foundation for Public Education, and Ann Best, deputy superintendent for human talent for the Houston Independent School District accepted the Ones to Watch (OTW) Award. The award is given to recent HBCU graduates who are marked by both great accomplishments and the potential for decades of further service.

Additional reporting by Renita Burns.

The United Negro College Fund, which provides financial assistance to minority students and capacity-building services to member institutions, laid out an ABC Agenda for Higher Education on Wednesday during its National HBCU Week Conference. The agenda is a priority list of measures that UNCF plans to push to the next Congress and new president.

“Education begins with the ABCs, and so should making education policy,” said UNCF president and CEO Michael Lomax. “With the elections that will choose our leaders just 60 days away, this is a time to set the goals against which we can measure what we can accomplish starting next January.”

A stands for Access and Affordability. UNCF is calling for increases in Pell Grants and increased tax credits for college tuition. It is a well-documented fact that many students graduate from college with an exorbitantly high level of debt, sometimes for different reasons. “Hard economic times, rising college tuitions, and a tightening credit crunch spell trouble for low- and moderate-income families and students,” Lomax says. But in an anecdote that highlighted the serious financial dilemmas students can find themselves in, Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) spoke of how despite his having financed all of his youngest daughter’s college needs, including a car and an apartment, she still ended up $40,000 in debt. UNCF is lobbying for programs offered in middle and high school that will give students the financial literacy skills they need to begin saving for tuition and become thoughtful borrowers.

B is for Building Educational Capital. Lomax believes too many people undervalue HBCUs. “We need to remind the country, and keep reminding [it], of what a priceless asset it has in historically black colleges and universities,” he said, citing a recent National Science Foundation study that found that black PhDs in science and engineering are just as likely to come from HBCUs as from prestigious private colleges and state universities. Ironically, he added, NSF funded this study, but doesn’t provide nearly as much funding to HBCUs as it does to other institutions. “We need to make sure the nation understands the asset that it has in HBCUs and invests in them.”

Lastly, C is for Community Engagement, which UNCF says is needed to animate a new generation of young Americans to roll up their sleeves and get involved in such issues as poverty and health disparities. The organization is working with ServiceNation, a national grassroots movement to build public support for a national service act.

The Congressional Black Caucus has formed a House HBCU Caucus to help champion the cause of black colleges and universities in Congress. Its co-founder, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), said the caucus “will work to expand federal opportunities for these institutions.” Lomax hopes it will help narrow the focus of CBC members and other lawmakers to the most critical issues facing minority students. He also wants to hear more from Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, who he said are not focusing enough attention on the issues.

Between attacks from his opponent this week, Obama delivered a speech on his education plan in Dayton, Ohio, on Sept. 9, which includes a $4,000 tax credit to middle-class students willing to serve their community or the nation, a service scholarship program to recruit teachers, and increased investment in technology, early-childhood education and other programs.

“When the story of our time is told, I don’t want it to be said that China seized this moment to reform its education system, but the United States did not,” Obama said. “I don’t want it to be said that India led the way on innovation, but the United States did not. I want it to be said that we rose to meet this challenge, and educated our people to become the most highly skilled workers in the world–just like we always have been.”