The Rainbow Push Automotive Project kicks off its 13th annual Global Automotive and Energy Summit tomorrow at the MGM Grand Detroit Hotel. More than 250 automotive executives, entrepreneurs, automotive suppliers, community leaders, and others, will convene to discuss methods to strengthen and create opportunities in the automotive and energy industries for people of color.
Panel discussions at the conference will focus on such topics as developing partnerships between Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, enhancing diversity in automotive advertising, gaining access to corporate services, examining the impact of women of color in the automotive industry, and a host of other subjects. The Automotive Project will also unveil its study during the conference that chronicles the economic impact of the automotive industry on urban communities. This study, among other things, explores the reasons why African Americans were so disproportionately affected by the recent economic downturn and how the automotive industry became the main catalyst for middle-class-America status for African Americans.
Glenda Gill, executive director of the Automotive Project, said inclusion and diversity industry-wide has to improve. “Some auto companies are sprinting with inclusion as their mantras,” she said. “Others have been slow, yet steady. Still others are moving at a snail’s pace even though the ethnic marketplace subsidizes their revenue and sustains their companies.”
For more information of the Global Automotive and Energy Summit or the Rainbow Push organization, visit www.rainbowpush.org.
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