Yahoo Finance ‘If I can do it, I know you can:' Meet the Black CEO fighting for corporate diversity
One summer during law school while interning at a law firm in St. Louis, Calvin Butler Jr. joined colleagues who were taking a group of young kids from the local Boys & Girls Club to Chuck E. Cheese.
When Butler asked one 7-year-old boy what he wanted to do when he grew up, the child replied: “I want to hang out.”
“His role models were the men he saw hanging out on the corner in his neighborhood. These were the men that he looked up to, the men who had money in their pockets. That little kid had no idea what they were doing but that’s what his ambitions were,” Butler said. “It struck me and it hurt me. I realized at that point, shame on me if I don’t provide little boys like that the opportunity to see someone like me as I continue my career, to see they can aim higher.”
Butler was born and raised minutes from Ferguson, Missouri, where a white police officer killed an unarmed Black teenager named Michael Brown in 2014.
In January he took over Exelon, an S&P 100 energy producer, making him one of the top Black CEOs in America and the first African American to hold the position.
White men still overwhelmingly run corporate America, according to a USA TODAY analysis of named executive officers at S&P 100 companies. These corporate leaders include CEOs like Butler, chief financial officers and others who serve in a handful of top-paid roles.
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But there was a glimmer of change in the 2022 demographics of corporate leadership.
Fourteen Black men were named executive officers in 2020, the year George Floyd's murder forced the nation to confront systemic racism. Two years later, 19 of them were, including Butler.
That long ago encounter from his law school days still influences Butler's approach to leadership.
When Baltimore was reeling from the death of Freddie Gray, he worked with a business partner and local nonprofits to bring aid to West Baltimore where protests and violence broke out after Gray died of injuries sustained while in police custody.
He also makes time to speak at local schools, champion science, technology, engineering and math programs and workforce academies, and dedicate baseball fields.
"All of those activities that I show up for have all been geared to providing young people – Black, brown, white young people from under-resourced communities – the opportunity to see people who look like them at higher levels of corporate America and to give them an opportunity to think bigger than their own circumstances," Butler told USA TODAY in an interview.
Progress stalls at the top: Few white women and people of color lead S&P 100 companies.
Corporate diversity: Dive into USA TODAY's series inside the nation’s most powerful companies.
Exelon doesn't get everything right, Butler says. “But you know the intent is there and we’re going to hold ourselves accountable to a high standard,” he said.
Butler was named in a racial discrimination lawsuit brought by former Black employees against the Exelon subsidiary he used to run, Baltimore Gas and Electric. The company denies the allegations and says it will vigorously defend itself.
Butler's responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What drives Exelon CEO Calvin Butler
That’s the why for me. Every step I take, every promotion I get, I make sure that people understand that there is nothing special about me. I am a first-generation college graduate from a broken home in north St. Louis and I am telling you that, if I can do it, I know you can and I’m here to help you get there.
Why diversity efforts must start at the top
Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts must start from the top. We have a vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. He used to be my chief of staff. But he doesn’t own it. He’s the governance and oversight. I own it.
DEI can’t sit in HR. It can’t sit in a business line. It has to sit with the CEOs and the leaders of the business.
Change requires measurement and accountability
We must have metrics around everything we do, and we must hold everybody accountable for getting them done including myself. And from what I know about our company and what I know about corporate America, what you measure, you improve and you get better and you hold people accountable. If you look at Exelon over the last 10 years, you will see a significant difference in who we are and how we look and what we do in our communities.
Making the business case for diversity
When I became CEO of BGE (Baltimore Gas and Electric) in 2014, I was the only person of color on the entire leadership team of 17 individuals. When I left as CEO, BGE had the most diverse leadership team in all of Exelon, over 65% or 70% of the team was diverse, meaning women and people of color.
And I tell people that story because BGE at the same time experienced the best financial success it had ever had. It experienced the highest customer satisfaction that it had ever had and the best operational metrics it had ever achieved.
So when I tell people that diversity works, I immediately point them to what was done at BGE, not because of me, but because of the team that was created to fulfill the mission of the organization.
Building a diverse talent pipeline
When you look at our organization today, you still see a lack of diversity at the very top. But at our senior VP and VP levels, you are now seeing – because of the efforts that we’ve undertaken over the last 10 years – a very diverse team.
My efforts and the efforts of my leaders have started filling that pipeline. That pipeline looks strong and vibrant. What we have to do now is let those individuals get the experience they need to continue to grow in the organization and become named executive officers.
Contributing: Jayme Fraser
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meet the Black CEO fighting for greater diversity in corporate America
