ABOUT THE ACADEMY
OUR MISSION
The African American Leadership Academy of Charlotte (AALAC or “the Academy”) intentionally equips, empowers, and advances local Black professionals to strengthen the impact and pipeline of executive and C-suite leaders for the public, private and philanthropic sectors.
OUR VISION
AALAC’s vision is to expand the number and impact of African American leaders in our community by creating a safe, supportive space that fosters acceleration and growth.
OUR WHY
We know that we need diversity of voices in leadership in order to have a strong, vibrant community...and more than just a few. The Academy is built on the premise that we cannot just “hope” that African American leaders will continue to emerge. It focuses on intentionally "building the bench" and thoughtfully investing in talent to ensure that there is a continuous pipeline of high-quality leaders for corporate, community and philanthropic impact.
As stated in a recent report by Korn Ferry, “High-performing Black talent exists at all levels across the corporate community. Yet, despite investing in large-scale diversity-and-inclusion (D&I) initiatives, firms are still not bringing enough Black talent into the leadership pipeline.”
This outcome represents not only a need, but also an opportunity for organizations who thoughtfully invest in Black leadership to achieve growth.
As noted in the report, “data shows that companies with ethnically diverse executive teams are 70% more likely to capture new markets than their less-diverse peers” and “generate 38% more in revenue from innovative products and services.”
In addition to community impact, the business case is clear.
The Academy is an initiative of the CLT Alliance Foundation administered by One Catalyst Consulting, in partnership with The Harvey B. Gantt Center as the venue partner for key AALAC events.