I am writing today to share with you Harvard Business School's Action Plan for Racial Equity, the result of an intensive effort that engaged faculty, staff, students, and alumni in deep reflection, often difficult discussions, and thoughtful planning.

The horrifying murder of George Floyd, and an all too long history of similar injustices, has spurred our collective awakening to the grave and continuing systemic racism in the United States that creates unacceptable, even dire inequities for our Black community members. This moment has made urgently clear that the School must redouble its commitment to combat racism—and anti-Black racism in particular—to create meaningful and enduring change that will enable every member of our community to thrive. Our Action Plan for Racial Equity reflects our highest aspirations for the School and the role it can play in business and society.

Background

In July, we announced the formation of a Task Force charged with focusing on four broad areas:

• advancing anti-racism education and research,
• supporting the Black community at HBS,
• engaging the broader business community, and
• changing our culture and organization.

Ron Chandler (Chief Information Officer), Jan Hammond (Senior Associate Dean for Community and Culture), and Jan Rivkin (Senior Associate Dean and Chair, MBA Program) agreed to serve as co-chairs of this Task Force, and the group that formed—25 faculty, staff, students, and alumni—quickly identified seven workstreams. The goal? Bold but achievable recommendations in each workstream, including actions the School could take in the short, medium, and long term. In addition to the Task Force members, another 47 individuals volunteered their time and dedicated their best thinking to this work, addressing questions such as: How can we enhance the School's culture? How can we significantly and consistently increase the number of cases with Black protagonists?

Our process yielded a few key observations.

First, many individuals at the School have strived to make progress toward racial equity over the years. In 2018, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the School's African-American Student Union (AASU). Its founding members were committed to addressing both the challenges they experienced as a racial minority in the classroom and the broader socioeconomic issues the Black community faced nationwide. Their activism led to important curricular changes and a new consortium with nine other business schools focused on increasing student diversity. Since that time, the leaders of AASU and the HBS African American Alumni Association have played a vital role in advancing racial equity at the School, including urging us to act now.

Another example with long roots at the School that thrives today is the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP). Since its founding nearly four decades ago, the program has engaged thousands of graduating and rising college seniors, including many Black and underrepresented minority students, interested in exploring business as a career. Many SVMP participants have gone on to earn MBA degrees, including at HBS. More recently, we've forged partnerships with organizations like Year Up (founded by Gerald Chertavian, MBA 1992), bringing young adults from diverse backgrounds to campus through internships that often transition to permanent employment.

These efforts offer insights into what works and why—emphasizing, for instance, the importance of proactively creating opportunities for diverse talent to engage with the School, and developing partnerships when we lack the resources or knowledge to make progress on our own.

Second, we repeatedly heard that we needed to approach our work with humility. On the topics of racism and racial equity, Harvard Business School and the large majority of our community lack experience and expertise. Like much of the non-Black community, we are still learning what it means to be Black in America. So even as we advance our mission of educating others, we must continue to listen, learn, and engage.

Relatedly, although the context of racism against Blacks in the United States is unique, we came to appreciate that the lessons we learn through this work will apply broadly and be essential to business leaders worldwide. Regrettably, racism and discrimination know no boundaries and are pervasive around the globe.

We became convinced of another simple yet profound observation. The work we do to promote racial equity will not only benefit Black members of our community. It will also make Harvard Business School a better institution for every member of our community.

The Action Plan

The Dean, Senior Associate Deans, and senior staff of Harvard Business School—along with the entire community of HBS faculty, staff, students, and alumni—are resolved to take the following actions to promote racial equity on our campus and in the world.

1. Make clear where we stand and where we aim to go.
2. Establish the enduring structures required for the journey ahead.
3. Attract additional Black talent to all parts of the HBS community.
4. Develop and disseminate research and course material on advancing racial equity in business.
5. Equip our students to become leaders for racial equity.
6. Engage with the broader business community to promote racial equity.
7. Hold ourselves accountable to meaningful, measurable progress.

Please click here to read the Action Plan in full.

Next Steps

We have identified faculty and staff leaders to take responsibility for each element of our action plan. They will move expeditiously to develop goals, targets, and timelines. Other critical next steps include hiring a Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Officer, and creating the enabling infrastructure—including forming an Initiative focused on racial equity and a DEI Board of Advisors comprising alumni and outside experts—to guide and support this work. Until then, the Task Force co-chairs will partner with a small advisory council to ensure we realize progress on this plan.

We know some of the questions you may still ask include: Why will this time be different? Why haven't you established targets?

What feels different now is the intensity and eagerness we encounter across our entire community to tackle this issue and be agents of change. Additionally, we see tremendous value in creating a proven infrastructure to support our effort—essentially embedding it in all the School's processes and practices while bringing greater intentionality and strategic coherence to the initiative we will launch and the work we will do. Moreover, we are determined to begin the cultural changes necessary to enable everyone to feel welcome, thrive, and advance our mission.

Targets can get mired in controversy—from whether they are legally permissible or sufficiently bold or implausibly unrealistic. In the end, we know that what truly matters is what we accomplish. Our actions and outcomes will speak louder than our plans and goals. We need to hold ourselves accountable, and our results, which we will report regularly and transparently, will be the ultimate measure of our progress.

I want to thank Ron Chandler, Jan Hammond, and Jan Rivkin, who took on this difficult work with their characteristic focus, skill, and commitment; Dilan Gomih (MBA 2019), our extraordinary project manager; the Task Force members; everyone who led and joined the workstreams; and the many members of our community who offered input on our action plan. While it provides a clear roadmap for the work ahead, we view it as a living document that will continue to evolve as new ideas emerge and circumstances change.

Now we must get to work, with an immediate sense of urgency and the sustained, long-term resolve to advance racial equity. To be true to our mission, we must enlist the full spectrum of human talent and educate leaders who will make a difference by making the most out of the differences that enrich us individually and societies globally.

With humility and resolve,

Nitin Nohria