SUMMIT 2022:

Partnering to Close the Racial Wealth Gap

On June 16, 2022, the Chicago Urban League will convene its 2022 SUMMIT, themed Partnering to Close the Racial Wealth Gap. Our summit is a fundraiser that supports our mission to achieve equity for Black families and communities through social and economic empowerment. We will gather with up to 500 business and civic leaders to discuss the role corporate, government and nonprofit entities can play in closing the racial gap.

After two years of hosting our annual SUMMIT on a virtual platform, we will return to an in-person event.

Admission to SUMMIT 2022 is $125.

AGENDA

KEYNOTE CONVERSATION

A Keynote conversation with political commentator Melissa Harris-Perry and Midway Broadcasting Corporation’s Chairman Melody Spann-Cooper.

PANEL DISCUSSION

“What role can and should corporate, community and government entities play in closing the racial wealth gap?”

A solution-focused panel discussion on the role corporations, community organizations and government entities can each play in closing the racial wealth gap for Black people in Chicago and elsewhere. Panelists include Pastor Chris Harris, Founder of Bright Star Community Outreach; Helene Gayle, CEO of Chicago Community Trust; and Robert Dunn, President of Landmark Development. Moderated by radio personality Darryl Dennard.

Professor Melissa Harris-Perry is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair in the Department of Politics and International Affairs, the Department of Women and Gender Studies, and the Program in Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest University. There she teaches courses on American politics at the intersections of race, place, and gender.

Melissa serves as host and managing editor of The Takeaway, a daily, national public radio program and podcast distributed by WNYC and PRX. Professor Harris-Perry is founder and president of the Anna Julia Cooper Center, whose mission is to advance justice through intersectional scholarship and action. And along with Dorian Warren, Harris-Perry is co-creator and co-host of The Takeaway’s special project Deep Dives with MHP and Dorian and the podcast System Check.

Melissa is a non-resident fellow of the Brookings Institution. She is the author of the award-winning Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, and Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America.

From 2012-2016, she hosted the television show “Melissa Harris-Perry” on weekend mornings on MSNBC and was awarded the Hillman Prize for broadcast journalism. She served as editor-at-large for Elle.com and for ZORA. She continues to serve as contributing editor for The Nation.

Professor Harris-Perry is an award-winning author and sought after public speaker, lecturing widely throughout the United States and abroad. Harris-Perry received her B.A. degree in English from Wake Forest University and her Ph.D. degree in political science from Duke University. She studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Harris-Perry previously served on the faculty of the University of Chicago, Princeton University, and Tulane University. Professor Harris-Perry has been awarded honorary degrees from many universities including Meadville Lombard Theological School, Winston-Salem State University, Eckerd College, New York University, and Ithaca College.

Melissa serves on several boards and award committees and is a trustee of The Century Foundation, The Next 100 and The Markup.

She and her family live in North Carolina.