- Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

- Hello, this is John Harmon, founder president, CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

And thank you for tuning in today to Pathway to Success.

I'm delighted to have an individual who I've known for a number of years.

He is a thought leader.

He has served in a number of senior executive roles in both quasi government, government as well as the private sector.

He's a spiritual leader and a person that I have a tremendous amount of respect for.

Reverend Dr. Keith D. Wright Senior, welcome to Pathway to Success.

- Thank you John for having me.

I'm glad to be here.

- I'm delighted to have you and I really mean that wholeheartedly.

And for our viewers today, if you could start off by just sharing with them a little bit about your background, where you're from, big family, small family.

- Sure.

I'm from a town called Orange, New Jersey, 2.2 square miles.

And I emphasize the fact that it was a very small town because early on we developed a sense of community and the sense of family.

But growing up in Orange, New Jersey, we quickly learned the importance of both public servants and servant leaders.

And with that background, going off to after high school, orange High to Rutgers University, then to the University of Maryland, then to Harvard University, and finally getting a PhD at Newburgh, the Theological Seminary.

It gave me quite a wide diversity of academic training and preparedness for the work that I have done over the years.

- So you, you went to a number of institutions to be educated, if you will.

- Yes.

- Just take one of them.

Why did you choose that particular institution?

- And so I wanted a college that was close by and I chose Rutgers University, and it turned out to be a great choice because it was there at Rutgers that I met the late Dr. Clement Alexander Price, Who became my history professor and good friend.

But the thing about Rutgers and Dr. Price is they made, he made history come alive, John.

And he also made it such that he thought that we should think about our ancestors.

Think about those that came before us.

And one of the things that, and I will share with your viewers that I did as a result of being with Dr. Price, he told us that, take, take a recorder and talk to the oldest people in your family.

But I did that and I spoke to my great-grandmother at the time and my grandmother, and you'll be surprised what stories you can learn when you sit down and you ask the older people in your family, what was life like for them.

Now I am in a, a position where I'm writing my story for my grandkids so that they know where as they refer to me, pea pa, they know pea PA's history and they know the different things that I, I have done.

But I wanted to have a better feel for people, for community, for the country.

So I majored in history and Dr. Price made that come alive for me.

- Know you, an organizational leader at the highest level, an author and also theology.

How did you land on those different, I guess, career - Paths?

An excellent question, John, and again, it goes back to my community, my upbringing and the things that were provided for me.

So as, as an example, as a, as a 10-year-old, my mom had sent me to the store and I got distracted because across the street from where I was walking, there were kids in a playground and they were playing basketball.

And so I went over and I peeked through the fence, watching them play basketball.

And out of nowhere, a gentleman by the name of Jesse Miles came up and said, would you like to play?

I knew nothing about basketball, but I certainly wanted to be a part of that.

Long story short, Mr.

Miles brought me into that game and brought me into his life.

And years later, he was still advising me, not just about politics, but about community, about helping others.

And one of the things I learned along the way with Mr.

Miles was as a community recreation leader, he was paid to do a certain job, but he did certain things where he went into his own pocket to give us as young kids experiences.

Mr.

Miles took myself and about 10 other young men over to the garden on his dime and allowed us to see a college, a basketball game.

Years later, when I was thinking about the political sector and the corporate sector, Mr.

Miles directed me to an individual.

He said, you can talk to this individual if you thinking about politics, but Keith, I really think we need more folks in corporate America.

And it was that advice that started me onto corporate America.

But again, I emphasized the driving point was Mr.

Miles and others helped me.

They paved the way, they showed me how to lift as we climb, as the saying goes.

And that stuck with me throughout my career.

- So ge also, you worked in several industries?

- Sure.

I started early on working in technology, not as a a computer technician, but really as a courier, moving the reports between different bell laboratories.

I wanted a role, not just in technology, but I wanted a role in management.

I wanted a role where I could influence and be a leader of other people.

And that started me on, on my career moving through the, from the computer technology side to the community development side, leaving the Port Authority of New York, New Jersey, and ending up at Fannie Mae in Washington, DC where I'd be started at technology.

But I ended up in community development and I found that to be the space that I enjoyed the most.

- You also spend time at Citibank?

- Yes.

- And you work this work with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation?

- Yes.

At, at Citibank I was the regional director.

I was the community reinvestment officer for Maryland, DC and Virginia.

And then from there, I went to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, where I spent a lot of time working with young folks who are interested in opportunities on the hill, but also in helping to create a platform for African American businesses to, to grow and to become larger than they were - Ministry.

When we were inspired to, to do that - In my family, I was really sort of, I guess the term that they would use later on, I was the God chaser.

I would get up on Sunday morning and be the one to go to different churches, just out of curiosity.

Wow.

And I did that for a number of years, but as I, I became a teen, I became somewhat frustrated with what I saw in the ministry.

I sort of backed away from it.

But working in corporate America and seeing the ways of the world and being a student of a history, it sort of came back full circle saying that I don't have to be what I see.

I can be something different.

And so ministry to me was always about helping others, helping people, helping them to grow, because my heart is for advancing people and helping people and letting, letting folks know that they can stand up against the ways of, of evil and distraction, if you will.

- So let's take a, a deeper dive into this.

Your spiritual guidance, your connection to Christ.

How does that advise your conduct and plans and how you executed your plans or achieve your objectives in the workplace?

- Again, going back to the city of Orange Jersey, there's a church there, a Union Baptist Church, and on the front Glass window panes are the names of my great-grandmother and great-grandfather.

Part of that is in my DNA On my dad's side.

My dad's family hailed from Jamaica.

But I learned that my grandfather came to the United States in 1919.

Again, my history training with Dr. Price, I knew that Marcus Garvey came to America in 1915.

The one thing that I, I have of my grandfather's is his book about Marcus Garvey.

And how does that tie to what your question, John?

It ties di directly to what I would call our spiritual moorings or our desire to have a better community, to make life better for our community any way that we can, using the gifts that, that we're given.

I believe, as Christ says, that we are all have special gifts, and it's important for us to recognize those gifts early and use those gifts.

And I believe my gift has always been leading and helping and serving people.

And so that's how I came back to the spiritual - Direction.

People have this relationship with Christ and then they wanna leave it home when they work.

And so you've pinned the book.

- There is a difference, a major difference between religion and relationship with - Christ.

Yes.

- And the relationship with Christ.

It's you.

It's his word.

It's his teaching.

It's his guidance.

And so what I sought to do in that book is called Spiritual Oars for Dark Waters.

And my thinking behind that was that we can get through the challenges that we face individually or as a community if we just keep our focus on Christ.

- Hmm.

- And so what that meant was, well, what was a focus on Christ?

And for me, the biggest example of that in my lifetime was Dr. Martin Luther King.

He had a focus on the community, on what was important.

And he had a strong belief that if we actually worked together for the things that could uplift the community, we could arrive at a destination safely together, and everyone could, could benefit.

And so my audience was for those who wanted to come in to the world of work, who wanted to grow, who wanted to excel, and who wanted to quite frankly do the right thing.

I wanted to be able to give them some guidance to say that you don't have to give up your, your integrity.

You don't have to give up your character.

You don't have to give up your spiritual moorings.

You can be successful in helping others grow in the work that they're doing in the organization that you're in without, as, as we often hear people say, selling your soul.

- It, it appears that when you talk about the principles and the covenants of a a, of a real genuine relationship with Christ and the objectives of corporations profitability, it seems like there may be some conflict there.

- And here's the, here's the real challenge there, John.

As I mentioned in the book, corporations are self-sustaining entities.

Their, their supreme role is to continue to exist.

And so while there is this huge belief that, and, and, and true for many folks that corporations are all about greed and profit.

The individuals who run these corporations are human beings, just like you and I.

So the question becomes, what is the morals?

What are, what are the values of those individuals in the leadership positions of these corporations?

And and mind you, that corporation could be the government, it could be private sector, nonprofit sector, or it could be the religious institutions.

- So based on that, there's still hope.

- Oh, absolutely.

I, I'm, I'm a firm believer.

- So we're gonna take a break here on Pathway to Success, and we'll be back in a moment with Dr. Keith Wright.

- For more information, please visit our website.

- Welcome back to Pathway to Success.

I'm your host, John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African-American Chamber of Congress in New Jersey.

I'm here with Reverend Dr. Keith D. Wright senior.

So Dr. Wright, in this book, spiritual Oars in Dark Waters, you know, is somewhat prophetic.

- My good friend Walter Fields, who wrote a fabulous forward in the book.

He and I were speaking just the other day about how relevant the book is now in 2025 as it was in 2016.

And again, the purpose of the book is to really say with, with character community is possible.

It's clear that when you look at the political infrastructure or the corporate in infrastructure, not just here in the United States, there is already a, a movement to marginalize millions of people in order to have a few billions for just a small group.

This is not hyperbole.

You can look at the growing wealth inequality, the wealth gap between the haves and the have nots.

And so we have to look at each other as brothers and sisters.

We have to look at this landscape we call the global economy as if it is the economy of our family, of our community.

- And so we're going to pivot a little bit and talk about the public sector.

The state of New Jersey completed the disparity study, which focused on availability and utilization of small businesses or businesses.

In Essex County, about 68 to 70% of Essex County population is either black or Hispanic.

And their disparity study combined Hispanic and black, it, it equated to less than 1% in terms of contracts.

You said earlier, behind the corporations, there's individuals and behind these public organizations, there's people as well.

There's a clear indication of lack of reciprocity, notwithstanding the votes cast by black and brown people in those, in those communities and across the state - Where the majority of people who voted are not benefiting as a result of their vote.

That's a huge problem.

But that's a problem that is only solvable if we are at the table.

If we are saying upfront, what does success look like before we even cast our votes?

And then after votes are cast, there is a need to hold these individuals accountable.

Not every four years, every four days or every four hours, whatever it takes, there's a need for us to hold them accountable.

But again, it goes back to character because John, if you and I decide that the person in the front office is, is is a person of character and is doing the right thing, that's one decision.

But if other people decide that they don't have to do the right thing, all they have to do is grieve my palms, if you will, or take care of me, then that's a different challenge.

So again, it comes back to what is our community, what does success look like for our community?

And how do we hold anybody who comes in or around our community accountable for moving us towards a more successful environment?

- I love that response.

If you clearly define a set expectations, then you can measure that on the outcome.

But if you don't do it, then it is what this, what advice could you share with leaders of advocacy organizations such as myself, - There's a number of different areas that have to really be explored and dealt with who is getting the work and how are they getting the work?

And so that goes into contracting, that goes into procurement, that goes into who is supporting the organizations or the politicians that goes into quid pro quo.

There are major African American and Hispanic firms in the state, in the country that are just not getting the work.

While there are other non-minority firms who seem to have a inside track in terms of getting all of all of the contracts, that's where we need to begin to start our accountability process.

So the question becomes, what are you going to do today in terms of standing up programs?

There are major organizations such as the Chamber, there are institutions that really need to begin to think about how do we change the trajectory of inclusion, equity, and opportunity.

- So I I'm, I'm seeking your, your guidance here as it relates to how can minority women owned business enterprises better position themselves going forward for public sector contracts?

- Yeah.

So John, the first thing I would say to those organizations is we have to define and own the narrative about who we are and what we can do.

And we have to make sure that that narrative is widely spread every chance we get.

One of the things I saw in, in my days when I was working in that particular space is that there was a real tension between minority women owned businesses who wanted to do work and some of the prime contracts who said that they didn't have the capacity to do the work.

Now what we've learned through the years is that opportunity builds capacity.

And we also know that the big firms did not get big overnight lesson that are learned from the late Congressman Payne when he was talking to the major companies that you didn't get big overnight.

So how, how is it that you don't want to lend a hand to those that are growing in a, in a word, John?

I would say that we have to think, not in terms of competition against each other, but collaboration with each other.

And the more that we become intentional about collaborating and growing together, how I can help you, I think the faster we will begin to rebound and grow and strengthen as a, as a community.

There is an abundance of talent in our communities.

We just have to have the right folks to tap into it and direct it in a way that will help it continue to grow.

- Let's pivot a little bit here.

In your book, you referenced the loss of your sister Karen, and how has her memory impacted your work professionally and you personally?

- Thank you, John for that question.

Yeah, it is gonna be almost 20 years since we lost Karen.

And as I mentioned, my town of Orange in school, Karen was one of the smartest individuals that I ever met.

And I was reminded of that because every time I went into a classroom, I was a year behind her.

The teachers would first say to me, you're Karen's brother.

Well, you know, Karen was a straight A student and we expect, so it was a lot of pressure on that.

But she was actually my best friend, my first mentor, really my first teacher in the, in the forward, in the beginning, dedication of the book.

One of the things that she gave to me as I was moving up the ranks in corporate America, she reminded me to take time to, to continue to grow and nourish my gift.

I, you know, as a speaker, as a writer, something that I always wanted to do.

And she took the time.

And so I'm always reminded as I'm re researching things, as I'm writing things, even, even as I'm discovering new things, I'm always reminded of having a, a, a sister, a sibling who encouraged me, who was a friend and who quite frankly, I lost too early in life.

But she's always there as an inspiration for me.

In fact, my wife now of 17 years, one of the things I say to her all the time is, I wish she could have met my sister Karen, because their creativity and their willingness to contribute and help others is so similar that it's just uncanny to me.

But you truly miss her.

- So I can, I can relate to that.

I lost my older sister who was the smartest of the seven of us, and she was a mentor and, and, and a, a nurturer to me as well.

- And - So I miss her and think about her all the time.

Well, thank you so much Reverend, Dr. Keith D. Wright senior, just honored to have you here today.

- Thank you for having me.

It's been a pleasure, John, - And the work you've done and partnership with the Chamber has made me a better leader, has given me more perspective, and has enabled me to dig a little deeper because the people we represent are counting on us.

And so I appreciate your guidance until the next time on your Pathway to success.

This is John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Thank you.

Today's message, we've come this far by faith.

You know, coming into 2021, in 22, there was a big push for equality, equity, and a sense of fairness in terms of black and brown people in United States.

Post the murder of George Floyd, a lot of corporations had made a commitment to make society more equitable, more reciprocal.

De and I campaigns were all over the place, but now we're seeing companies like Walmart, black and brown.

People are through those aisles every day.

McDonald's, we have illuminated the arches.

McDonald's and a host of others retreat from their commitment.

So I talked about the multitude of companies that have retreated, but we must applaud and salute companies like Costco who remain steadfast and committed to a relationship with diverse society.

Black people spend $1.8 trillion annually across these United States.

Numbers that eclipse the GDP of Russia and Brazil.

We must keep that in mind.

When we are spending our money, who we spend it with, why we spend it with them, and how much they respect and value our investment in them.

There has to be some reciprocity and we have to demand it.

That's the charge for 2025.

Demand, respect, excellence, and value.

This is not a charitable endeavor.

Our commitment to the US economy and New Jersey's economy makes us a more competitive country and a more competitive state.

So we have value.

You cannot back up from that principle because we're making a difference.

And you gotta let them know that we're making a difference.

Until we realize who we are, we'll never achieve the excellence that is within us.

So I challenge you today, we've come this far by faith, not to forget how we've gotten here, and not to forget the wars that we've won.

We can win again and I encourage you to do so.

- Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.