Page 38 - May JSF Report

FCAN SUMMIT REPORT (3)
Additionally, there were two luncheons as well as networking opportunities. The first luncheon speaker was John F. Davis, the 10th Secretary of the Florida Lottery and a native of Pahokee. The Lottery started in 1988 with the sole purpose of providing additional funding for education in the state. Its flagship scholarship program, Bright Futures, has helped 950,000 students attend postsecondary institutions since 1997. He noted that the percentage of Black students is at 6 percent and has never been higher than 7 percent. At the same time, the percentage of Hispanic receiving Bright Futures scholarships started at 10 percent and has gone up to 28 percent. Secretary Davis believes awareness is an issue. The Lottery is starting a new initiative called Keeping Florida’s Future Bright to promote awareness of the scholarship among all Florida students. They are starting to talk about the program to students as young as middle school.
The closing luncheon speaker was Raven Solomon, a global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) thought leader who has been the keynote speaker at several regional and national conferences (including the Florida Philanthropic Network Summit earlier this year). Her address focused on the business case for DEI. As a millennial herself, she emphasized that the country is growing more racially and ethnically diverse. She noted that the generation behind hers, Gen Z, is becoming more aware of how inclusion aligns with an organization’s values. Members of Gen Z have $143 billion in buying power and are willing to spend 30% more on an item if they know the company or brand supports a cause that is important to them. She added that 51% of Gen Z members say they respect companies more if they support racial equality. Also, 77% of Gen Z workers say that a company’s level of diversity affects their decision whether to work there.
Page 36 May Report