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What are the structural and systemic factors in American society that contribute to an ongoing and widening racial wealth gap? What steps can organizations take to identify those factors and intervene to minimize their impact on members of Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other communities of color?

Those questions will be addressed by more than 40 expert presenters—including faculty, doctoral students and alumni from schools and colleges across the University—during the Lender Center for Social Justice Symposium. The event, supported by MetLife Foundation, takes place Thursday, March 30, and Friday, March 31, in 130 Dineen Hall.

On March 30, Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs Jamie Winders will offer opening remarks, followed by a keynote address by College of Law Professor Kristen Barnes, speaking on “Dispossession and Restoration.” Closing remarks will be given by Jasmine Bellamy ’92, vice president of merchandising, planning and allocation and leader of Reebok Culture at Reebok.

The March 31 keynote address will be given by dt ogilvie, professor of urban entrepreneurship and economic development, former distinguished professor of urban entrepreneurship and former dean of the Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Welcoming remarks will be offered by Marvin Lender, chairman of Baldwin Street Management LLC, ������ Life Trustee and Investment and Endowment Committee member, and Charlie Pettigrew, director, corporate giving and employee engagement at MetLife Foundation. Remarks by Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives Marcelle Haddix will close the day’s program.

Five panels will convene during the two-day event. The topics are:

• “Integrating a Humanities Perspective in Understanding and Addressing the Racial Wealth Gap”
• “Structural and Systemic Impact of Educational and Criminal Justice Systems on the Racial Wealth Gap”
• “Racial Wealth Disparities in the Military and Among Veterans”
• “Exploration of Factors Within Organizations That Impact the Racial Wealth Gap in the U.S.”
• “Converting Research to Policy Change and Action”

Presenters represent multiple ������ schools and colleges, including the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Law, College of Professional Studies, Martin J. Whitman School of Management, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, School of Information Studies, School of Architecture, School of Education and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, as well as the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families.

In 2022, MetLife Foundation awarded a three-year, $2.7 million grant to the Lender Center for new initiatives to explore the racial wealth gap in the U.S., looking at its causes and consequences and elevating effective solutions.

Initiatives include hosting conversations among academic and social justice leaders in city centers across the nation to gain deeper insights on the topic; hiring postdoctoral researchers to develop new data-collection and evidence-gathering research tools; and other efforts to assess and resolve the wealth gap’s impact on members of Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other communities of color. Projects are being managed by leaders of the Lender Center and the .

Haddix says the innovative partnership between the Lender Center for Social Justice and MetLife Foundation “is intended not only to help uncover the systemic issues contributing to the racial wealth gap, but also to discover and develop scalable solutions to reduce inequities, provide access to opportunity and enable historically marginalized communities to ultimately build better economic futures.”

The was founded by ������ Life Trustee (Marvin) Lender and is named for him, his wife, Helaine, and their family.

and are available.

For more information about the event or to request accommodations, contact Kira Reed at 315.443.3391 or kireed@syr.edu.