By Jonathan Edouard
Florida A&M University (FAMU) alum and comedian Roy Wood, Jr., is hosting a 15-episode interview series, Faces of Race, which focuses on racism, diversity, and inclusion in corporate America and the impact it has taken on the Black community.
Over the course of the series, Wood will be discussing how corporate racism has afflicted the Black community while also gaining insight from a plethora of individuals across a variety of industries.
The five confirmed guests set to appear on Faces of Race will be CEO of Diversity Inc. Carolynn Johnson; head of New Product Experimentation at Facebook Ime Archibong; comedian Kevin Fredericks; CEO of Y Combinator Michael Seibel, and Stephan Nicoleau, managing director of Capital Formation at FullCycle. Guests will share insight on their respective perspectives about what they have overcome.
“Roy Wood Jr. brings a unique perspective to each of these conversations with Black business leaders who overcame discrimination and adversity in their journeys to where they are today,” said Kavita Gupta, co-founder and CSO of FINTECH.TV. “In order to spark real change in the business world, we must continue having these conversations, some of them uncomfortable, about diversity and equality in a way that is honest and real, which is our goal for this show.”
Following a year in 2020 where social justice issues and racial tensions hit a boiling point, “Faces of Race” will look to identify ways to even out the playing field for minorities and those don’t benefit from advantageous standing in life. Vince Molinari, CEO of FINTECH.TV, spoke about the broken system of the United States and the lack of diversity in corporations.
“Following a year of global focus on race, it’s evident that the deep-seated racial injustices in our country requires more attention and action,” Molinari said. “The system we’ve used collectively to conduct business in regard to diversity and inclusion is clearly broken, and it’s up to current and future generations of business leaders to correct it.”
Wood hopes these one-on-one conversations create an opportunity for barriers to be broken within the Black community.
“It’s an honor to sit down with titans in their respective fields and have a light-hearted but meaningful conversation about the barriers they’ve broken, the mountains they’ve climbed, and the things we can do collectively to help turn these mountains into a level playing field,” said Wood.
Faces of Race premiered on February 17 with each episode lasting around 30 minutes. Wood worked on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah before branching off and using his platform to have a serious discussion while employing satire throughout the series.
