We want to look a little deeper into the people involved in McKinsey’s research. And how a major consulting company decided to pursue research into Black economics. First, we want to salute the people at McKinsey who spent their valuable time putting together these wonderful studies on the black economic condition in the US. Thank you. Black excellence.
First, a lot of hard-working people put in a lot of time on these reports. You won’t make partner doing this stuff; it’s for society’s greater good. It’s all the associates who are working in the trenches on deadlines while doing their regular jobs.
Luckily, there is enough public information within the reports to trace the sponsorship and development at McKinsey.
There are two other reasons to spotlight the McKinsey researchers. One is the example they provide. They are an example of the rigor and quality needed to uplift Black America. Second, the results are a team effort. They worked together to produce these great reports. No one person did it alone. The research was a group effort led and staffed by Black people.
All the reports are available from the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility.
Likely History
From the publicly available information, the McKinsey research on Black US economics appears to be an outgrowth of: an active internal African American interest group, work in the US public sector, and sponsorship at high levels by McKinsey partners. George Floyd’s murder and Covid also impacted the studies.
The McKinsey Black affinity group started as a way to help African Americans to be successful at the firm. One obvious effort, beyond socialization, is to apply the McKinsey consulting skills to difficult, real-world problems.
Second, in 2018, McKinsey started the Black Economic Forum with the goal of discussing Black economic issues.
Finally, as an outgrowth of both groups, they published their first major report. The state of black America. Estimating the potential for AA in the US economy at <<<>>>
Notably, Shelly Stewart, an early participant in the study, later led many efforts to examine Black wealth, incomes, jobs, and financial access. He has been the driving force behind the studies since about 2020. He is the most frequently listed author on many of the reports with nine citations. Salute.
To start, we want to list some the people involved. We can speculate about who did the research (an associate), who did the management (a partner), and who did the editing (a senior partner). But everyone contributed in their own way and added value.
Here is the list and approximate title and link to the biography, if available.
1. Shelley Stewart III, 9 citations
Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company; Chair of the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility
He appears on virtually every major Black economic mobility report.
2. JP Julien, 3 citations
Partner, McKinsey; leader of the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility
3. Duwain Pinder, 3 citations
Partner, Ohio; McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility co-founder
4. Nick Noel, 3 Citations
Associate Partner, Washington, DC
5. Jason Wright, 3 citations
Former/current McKinsey partner and co-leader of the early Black economic research
Wright qorked on the original wealth-gap work.
6. Michael Chui, 2 Citations
Partner, McKinsey Global Institute.
Michael Chui biography/search at McKinsey
7. James Manyika, 2 citations
Former McKinsey senior partner and MGI leader
8. Ammanuel Zegeye, 2 citations
Partner, McKinsey
9. Nina Yancy, 2 Citations
10. Kelemwork Cook
General Manager, McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility
11. Bryan Hancock
Partner; Global Leader of McKinsey’s talent work
12. Monne Williams
Monne Williams biography/search at McKinsey
13. Lareina Yee
Former McKinsey Senior Partner and MGI Director
14. Sara Prince
Senior Partner, Atlanta
15. André Dua
Senior Partner, McKinsey
André Dua biography/search at McKinsey
16. Jonathan Law
Senior Partner, McKinsey
17. Mike Kerlin
Partner, McKinsey
Another author of The Case for Inclusive Growth.
Mike Kerlin biography/search at McKinsey
18. David Baboolall
19. Dylan Forgione
Coauthor of A Guide to Impact Investing in Black Economic Mobility.
20. Dominic Williams
21. Ken Yearwood
Partner, Chicago
Coauthor of the 2026 Great Ownership Transfer report
22. Nathan Marks
Consultant and coauthor of The Great Ownership Transfer.
23. Susan Lund
She helped write the Future of Work in America.
Susan Lund biography/search at McKinsey
24. Liz Hilton Segel
25. Scott Rutherford
Senior Partner, McKinsey
26. Brent Macon
Coauthor of The Future of Work in America.
27. Dame Vivian Hunt
Former McKinsey senior partner and major leader of the firm’s diversity and economic work. This one is interesting. Black women don’t often get knighted.
You can roughly group each person into three groups inside McKinsey: Black Economics and Opportunity, General economic inequality, and Business Entrepreneurship group. Second, you can slice the data into senior partner, partner, and associate.
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Summary
Why is this important
McKinsey’s research and people provide an example. They show the value of Black people organizing to work together for a common cause. Period. Organizations, institutions, relationships, networks, and friendship matter. Too often we are distracted by individual achievement, but the path to lasting success is community and institution building. Within or without corporate America.
Working together as a group is how Blacks can achieve success.
Note: Why did we devote so much time to McKinsey’s research? The answer is twofold. They are the most solution-oriented of all Black economic research available. They provide answers to some of the key questions in Black inequity. Second, the research was a group effort staffed and led by Black people. It provides a great example of black achievement.
We believe they provide a valuable contribution to the field of Black Economics.
Note 2: AI was used to conduct the basic research but later edited for quality, language and viewpoint.