Cleveland Clinic is among 37 companies and organizations that have formed a coalition called OneTen, which pledges to "upskill, hire and promote one million Black Americans over the next 10 years into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement."
The coalition in a news release announcing its formation said OneTen "connects employers with talent partners, leading nonprofits and other skill-credentialing organizations that support the development of diverse talent." It has raised more than $100 million in seed funding, according to this article in The Wall Street Journal.
OneTen was founded by five executives: Ken Chenault, chairman and managing director of General Catalyst and former chairman and CEO of American Express; Ken Frazier, chairman and CEO of Merck; Charles Phillips, managing partner of Recognize, chairman of the Black Economic Alliance and former CEO of Infor; Ginni Rometty, executive chairman and former CEO of IBM; and Kevin Sharer, former chairman and CEO of Amgen and former faculty member at Harvard Business School. Frazier and Rometty will serve as co-chairs.
"This is a moment in time for Americans to move past our divisions to come together and reach our full potential as a nation," Frazier said in a statement. "Our country's workforce of the future will be an increasingly diverse one. Through the creation of one million jobs for Black Americans over the next 10 years, OneTen has the potential to address persistent inter-generational gaps in opportunity and wealth."
The 37 founding members are as follows: Accenture, ADP, Allstate, American Express, Amgen, Aon, AT&T, Bain & Co., Bank of America, Cargill, Caterpillar, Cisco, Cleveland Clinic, Comcast, Deloitte, Delta Air Lines, Eli Lilly, General Motors, HP Inc., Humana, IBM, Illinois Tool Works, Intermountain Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Lowe's, Medtronic, Merck, Nike, Nordstrom, PepsiCo, Roper Technologies, Stryker, Target, Trane Technologies, Verizon, Walmart and Whirlpool Corp.
OneTen will begin working with employers in the first quarter of next year and start connecting them with recruiters the following quarter, Bloomberg reported. Member companies will agree to specific hiring targets of 250 to 500 workers based on their size. Each company is also providing the seed capital to fund the project. The initiative is specifically targeting middle class jobs and workers who don't have a college degree.
The coalition said in the release that the founding companies "look forward to welcoming additional members, including small and medium-size businesses, which power the majority of the U.S. economy."
In a statement, the Clinic said that as "anchor institution in every community we serve," it "recognizes the health impact of racial disparities and works to eliminate them."
Dr. Tom Mihaljevic, the Clinic's CEO, said, "Employment is a major determinant of health that is undermined by racial disparities. Cleveland Clinic is proud to create rewarding jobs that broaden opportunities for all skill levels and to support the health of our communities. We are intentional about who we hire and develop to best serve the needs of all."
Kelly Hancock, chief caregiver officer at the Clinic, added, "The values of Cleveland Clinic, specifically our value of inclusion, aligns directly with OneTen's mission. Our partnership and participation in this coalition is an extension of Cleveland Clinic's commitment to the lives of our current and future caregivers and the communities that count on us."
To meet its hiring goals, OneTen said in the release that it "will work with employers, education partners and upskilling partners to design educational and employment solutions. Together, these partners will better develop, retain and advance diverse and underrepresented talent, more broadly, but with an explicit commitment to hire or promote Black Americans without four-year degrees."
In January, the organization said, it will "begin working with partner employers to improve workplace inclusivity practices and will connect talent providers to partner employers shortly thereafter."
