About
Financial News' Penny Sukhraj speaks to Bank of America's Ebony A. Thomas, senior vice president, Environmental, Social and Governance, and J. Derek Penn, author of Diary of a Black Man on Wall Street. They'll discuss privilege on Wall Street, what it might take to effect change and why inclusivity matters to investors.

When
Monday, April 18, 2022 · 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time (US & Canada) (GMT -4:00)
Presenters
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Penny Sukhraj
Online Editor, Financial News
Penny Sukhraj is an Online News Editor for Financial News. She was previously Managing Editor for international tax news at Bloomberg, and Content Editor for Accountancy Magazine. Before that, she worked for national titles in South Africa, including the Sunday Times, Sunday World, The Star and Sunday Tribune.
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J. Derek Penn
Independent Trustee, Board of Trustees, Charles Schwab Mutual Funds and ETFs, Charles Schwab Corporation
A graduate of Duke University, BA, MBA, J. Derek Penn has worked at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Fidelity Capital Markets, BNY Mellon, and is currently an independent trustee, Board of Trustees, Charles Schwab Mutual Funds and ETFs, Charles Schwab Corporation. DIARY OF A BLACK MAN ON WALL STREET is his story.
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Ebony A. Thomas
SVP, ESG and Public Policy Executive, Bank of America
Ebony Thomas is the Racial Equality and Economic Opportunity Initiatives Executive, responsible for delivering Bank of America’s $1B, four-year initiative to accelerate work to help drive racial equality and economic opportunity for people and communities of color. She works to identify and build partnerships with internal and external community leaders, business leaders, local elected officials and others in the communities we serve to drive economic opportunity and upward mobility through programmatic initiatives.
Ebony previously held roles as a Global Human Resources Executive leading teams in Enterprise Diversity Recruiting Strategy and Market and Site HR. In these roles, Ebony was responsible for the planning, coordination and execution of Market-Site HR capabilities to ensure consistent standards and governance for the HR activities occurring across our 92 market, including market talent planning and development, engagement and diversity and inclusion.
In addition to her executive career, Ebony serves as a board member at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC). She is also a member of the Board of Visitors for the School of Business at Howard University in Washington, DC. Her service to these organizations are rooted in Ebony’s commitment to transform approaches to student achievement, career success and improving generational socio-economic status in underserved communities.
Ebony Thomas is a proud graduate of North Carolina A&T State University where she holds a BA degree in English and History. She lives in Charlotte with her three children, Evan, Croix and Ellis.