MALIA LAZU
How to Create an Inclusive Innovation Economy Innovation is far from a novel topic at MIT Sloan, but there are always ways to expand the conversation. The Inclusive Innovation Economy: Ideas + Actions conversation series explores equity within innovation by engaging community leaders who are creating cultural change and promoting inclusion. True to the MIT motto “mens et manus,” or “mind and hand,” the interactive webinars provide participants with palpable action steps for making a difference. “These intentional conversations each end with the panelists providing their insights on what institutions like MIT Sloan can do to advance inclusivity and innovation,” says Malia Lazu (Lecturer, Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management). Lazu serves as series co-facilitator alongside Fiona Murray (Associate Dean of Innovation and Inclusion; William Porter (1967) Professor of Entrepreneurship; Co-Director, MIT Innovation Initiative; Faculty Director, Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship) and Ray Reagans (Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Management; Professor, Work and Organization Studies).
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A BETTER WORLD IN THE MAKING
“ Investing in Black and brown founders is not charity. There isn’t a lack of talent, only a lack of opportunity and resources.”
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KERRY BOWIE
MIT Sloan is committed to fostering inclusivity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted various forms of inequality. “We need to build back a recovery that looks and feels different. It needs to be more inclusive, more integrated, and with more widespread opportunities,” said Murray during a
conversation around creating opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs. “It’s extremely important to us that we focus our learning journey on the forces that shape that innovation economy.” Such as access to venture capital, a topic that panelist Kerry Bowie, SB ’94, MBA ’06, weighed in on. “Investing in Black and brown founders is not charity,” said Bowie. “There isn’t a lack of talent, only a lack of opportunity and resources.” Bowie is a leader in clean energy and was recently appointed to the MIT Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. “My favorite conversation was with San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and then Boston Mayor Kim Janey,” says Lazu. “The discussion was wide-ranging and included both reflections on history and going-forward solutions to the most pressing challenges of today.” All three panelists are the first Black women to hold the mayoral position in their respective cities, and Lightfoot is the first openly lesbian Black woman to be elected mayor of a major city in the United States. On creating local change, Janey commented, “There’s so much innovation here in Boston and so many companies want to locate here, which is great. But we need to make sure that this city is working for everyone.” The Inclusive Innovation Economy: Ideas + Actions conversation series returned with new guests and topics in fall 2021. “The conversations will center on following the money and identifying the best ways to institutionalize an inclusive innovation economy,” says Lazu. “The dialogue will pick up on key threads from our previous series, including concepts of reparative capital and stronger mechanisms for corporate accountability.”