Solomon Partners CEO Marc Cooper and 190+ Business Leaders Join Partnership for NYC in Urgent Call for Racial Justice

Today, CEO Marc Cooper joined more than 190 other business leaders and the Partnership for New York City in signing an open letter calling for united efforts to achieve racial justice. Please find the full letter and signatories below.

Open Letter From Leaders of the Partnership for New York City

June 2, 2020

The business community shares the outrage of our fellow New Yorkers over continued racial injustice in America, reflected in the needless death of George Floyd and, more broadly, the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color. As employers and business leaders, we commit to help address conditions that have led to these tragic outcomes.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a further reminder of significant shortcomings in our health, education and economic systems. These shortcomings have hit communities of color in our city disproportionately hard. This experience has shown once again the vital role these communities play in every aspect of our city, including as healthcare providers and other essential workers.

Within our companies and publicly, we are reasserting our commitments to diversity and inclusion among our boards, executive leadership and our entire workforce. As members of the Partnership for New York City, we are supporting programs to ensure that the city’s public school students gain the skills and career opportunities required to achieve economic equality and helping racially diverse entrepreneurs and small businesses survive and rehire workers as quickly as possible.

Throughout the crisis, we have extended philanthropic support to hospitals, food pantries, cash relief programs, social service organizations and many other charities. But no amount of philanthropy can make up for the divisions in American society that the pandemic has exposed and deepened.

By speaking out, we intend to send a message of hope to young New Yorkers who are acting out their frustration, fears and anger on the city streets. Let’s work together to achieve racial equality and a safe, law-abiding society.

New York has prided itself on being the world’s most open and inclusive city, attracting top talent from everywhere to build lives, careers and businesses here. But these opportunities have not been equally accessible to young people of color who have grown up and attended school in our poorest neighborhoods. In our post-pandemic city, that must change, and we are committed to help make that happen.

Sincerely,

Mercedes Abramo, President & CEO, North America, Cartier

Lee S. Ainslie, III, Managing Partner, Maverick Capital

Ellen Alemany, Chairman & CEO, CIT Group Inc.

Leo Argiris, Chief Operating Officer, Americas Region, Arup

Jeffrey Aronson and Mark T. Gallogly, Managing Principals, Centerbridge Partners

Robert M. Bakish, President & CEO, ViacomCBS Inc.

Ajay Banga, Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard

Neil Barr, Managing Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Candace K. Beinecke, Senior Partner, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

Charles R. Bendit, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Taconic Investment Partners LLC

Stephen Berger, Chairman, Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC

William H. Berkman, Co-Chairman & CEO, Digital Landscape Group, Inc.

Torry Berntsen, Chief Executive Officer, Americas & Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking, Standard Chartered Bank

David J. Beveridge, Senior Partner, Shearman & Sterling LLP

Frank J. Bisignano, President & COO, fiserv

Leon Black, Chairman & CEO, Apollo Management, L.P.

Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Jeff T. Blau, Chief Executive Officer, The Related Companies, L.P.

Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer, Ruder Finn, Inc.

Adam M. Blumenthal, Managing Partner, Blue Wolf Capital Partners

Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, Co-Founders & Co-CEOs, Warby Parker

Michael C. Bodson, President & CEO, The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation

John Borthwick, Founder & CEO, Betaworks

Albert Bourla, Chairman & CEO, Pfizer Inc.

Tory Burch, Chairman, CEO & Designer, Tory Burch LLC

Martin S. Burger, Chief Executive Officer and Larry Silverstein, Chairman, Silverstein Properties, Inc.

Ric Clark, Chairman, Brookfield Property Group

Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman and Joe Shenker, Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Marc Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, PJ Solomon, L.P.

Michael L. Corbat, Chief Executive Officer, Citigroup

David Craig, Chief Executive Officer, Refinitiv

Joseph C. Davis, North America Chairman, The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.

Todd C. DeGarmo, Chief Executive Officer, STUDIOS Architecture

Jim Dinkins, President, Coca-Cola North America

William R. Dougherty, Chairman, Executive Committee, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Lynne Doughtie, U.S. Chairman & CEO and Paul Knopp, CEO-Elect and Chair-Elect, KPMG LLP

Brian Duperreault, President & CEO, American International Group, Inc.

Douglas Durst, Chairman, Durst Organization Inc.

Richard Edelman, President & CEO, Edelman

Scott A. Edelman, Chairman, Milbank LLP

Blair W. Effron, Co-Founder, Centerview Partners LLC

Joel S. Ehrenkranz, Partner and Co-Founder, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P.

Douglas F. Eisenberg, Founder & CEO, A&E Real Estate, LLC

Steven Ellis, Chairman of the Firm, Proskauer

Cathy Engelbert, Commissioner, WNBA

Eric Eve, Chief Executive Officer, Ichor Strategies LLC

Alexander Farman-Farmaian, Vice Chairman, Portfolio Manager, Edgewood Management LLC

Ziel Feldman, Chairman & Founder, HFZ Capital Group

Joseph R. Ficalora, President & CEO, New York Community Bancorp, Inc.

Laurence D. Fink, Chairman & CEO, BlackRock, Inc.

Peter Finn, Founding Partner, Finn Partners

Winston C. Fisher, Partner, Fisher Brothers

Alan H. Fishman, Chairman, Ladder Capital Finance LLC

John Foley, Founder & CEO, Peloton

William E. Ford, Chief Executive Officer, General Atlantic LLC

Bethlam Forsa, Chief Executive Officer, Savvas Learning Company

Paul Fribourg, Chairman & CEO, Continental Grain Company

Adena Friedman, President & CEO, Nasdaq

Eric J. Friedman, Executive Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Jeff Gennette, Chairman & CEO, Macy’s, Inc.

Daniel Glaser, President & CEO, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.

Timothy Gokey, Chief Executive Officer, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

Alex Gorsky, Chairman & CEO, Johnson & Johnson

Barry M. Gosin, Chief Executive Officer, Newmark Knight Frank

Peter T. Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg LP

Jonathan N. Grayer, Chairman & CEO, Weld North LLC

David J. Greenwald, Chairman, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Kelly Grier, U.S. Chairman & Americas Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP

Stewart K. Gross, Managing Director, Lightyear Capital

Robin Hayes, Chief Executive Officer, JetBlue Airways Corporation

Risa Heller, President, Risa Heller Communications

Dale Hemmerdinger, Chairman, Atco Properties & Management, Inc.

Jonathan S. Henes, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Leslie Wohlman Himmel, Managing Partner, Himmel & Meringoff Properties, Inc.

Barbara Humpton, President & CEO, Siemens USA

Donna Imperato, Chief Executive Officer, BCW

Frederick J. Iseman, Chairman & CEO, CI Capital Partners LLC

Jeremy Jacobs, Chairman, Delaware North Companies Inc. and Owner, Boston Bruins

Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, Lazard Ltd

John Josephson, Chairman & CEO, Sesac

Brad S. Karp, Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Charles R. Kaye, Chief Executive Officer, Warburg Pincus LLC

Anthony S. Kendall, Chairman & CEO, Mitchell & Titus, LLP

Henry R. Kravis, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Philip Krim, Founder & CEO, Casper

Jeremy M. Kroll, Co-Founder & CEO, K2 Intelligence

William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.

Rochelle B. Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

Kewsong Lee, Co-Chief Executive Officer, The Carlyle Group

Richard S. LeFrak, Chairman & CEO, The LeFrak Organization

Joey Levin, Chief Executive Officer, IAC

Allan Levine, Chairman & CEO, Global Atlantic Financial Company

Jeffrey E. Levine, Chairman, Douglaston Development

Robert A. Levine, Chief Executive Officer, RAL Companies & Affiliates, LLC

Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Alex Liu, Managing Partner and Chairman, Kearney

Robert P. LoCascio, Founder & CEO, LivePerson, Inc.

Howard W. Lutnick, Chairman & CEO, Cantor Fitzgerald L.P.

Shawn Lytle, Head of Americas, Macquarie Group

Mehdi Mahmud, CEO & President, First Eagle Investment Management, LLC

Vikram Malhotra, Senior Partner & Chairman of the Americas, McKinsey & Company, Inc.

Anthony Malkin, Chairman & CEO, Empire State Realty Trust

Anthony E. Mann, President & CEO, E-J Electric Installation Co.

Theodore Mathas, Chairman & CEO, New York Life Insurance Company

Sandeep Mathrani, Chief Executive Officer, WeWork

Peter W. May, President & Founding Partner, Trian Partners

John McAvoy, Chairman, President & CEO, Con Edison, Inc.

Charles R. McCall, Chief Executive Officer, Astoria Energy II LLC & Astoria Energy LLC

Raymond W. McDaniel, Jr., President & CEO, Moody’s Corporation

Bill McDermott, President & CEO, ServiceNow

Anish Melwani, Chairman & CEO, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc.

Avner Mendelson, President & CEO, Bank Leumi USA

Jayne Millard, Chairman and Co-CEO and Kathleen Shanahan, Co-CEO, Turtle & Hughes, Inc.

Edward J. Minskoff, Chairman & CEO, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc.

Ken Moelis, Chairman and CEO, Moelis & Company

Greg Mondre, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Silver Lake

Thomas K. Montag, COO, Bank of America

Daniel Moore, President & CEO, Rockefeller Group International, Inc.

Tyler Morse, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Partner, MCR Development LLC

Deanna M. Mulligan, Chief Executive Officer, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

Oscar Munoz, Executive Chairman, United Airlines, Inc.

Masaki Nakajima, President & CEO, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas

Tom Naratil, President Americas and Co-President Global Wealth Management, UBS Group AG

Daniel Nardello, Chief Executive Officer, Nardello & Co. LLC

Liz Neumark, Founder & CEO, Great Performances

Jon Oringer, Executive Chairman, Shutterstock, Inc.

Mark Pearson, President & CEO, Equitable

Debbie Perelman, President & CEO, Revlon, Inc.

Douglas L. Peterson, President & CEO, S&P Global

Michael A. Peterson, Chairman & CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation

Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Chairman, Infor

Michael Phillips, President, Jamestown Properties LLC

Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO, Lafayette 148 New York

Daniel Ramot, Co-Founder & CEO, Via

Steven L. Rattner, Chairman & CEO, Willett Advisors LLC

Scott H. Rechler, Chairman & CEO, RXR Realty LLC

Christiana Riley, Member of the Management Board, Deutsche Bank AG, CEO, Deutsche Bank USA Corp.

James D. Robinson, III, Co-Founder & General Partner, RRE Ventures

John Romeo, Managing Partner, Oliver Wyman

James A. Rosenthal, Chief Executive Officer, BlueVoyant

Evan Roth, Co-CEO, BBR Partners, LLC

Michael I. Roth, Chairman & CEO, Interpublic Group

Steven Roth, Chairman & CEO, Vornado Realty Trust

Steven Rubenstein, President, Rubenstein Communications, Inc.

Mitchell E. Rudin, President, Savills Inc.

William C. Rudin, Co-Chairman & CEO, Rudin Management Company, Inc.

Kevin P. Ryan, Founder & CEO, AlleyCorp

Tim Ryan, U.S. Chair and Senior Partner, PwC

Faiza Saeed, Presiding Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Scott Salmirs, President & CEO, ABM Industries Inc.

Kathleen Savio, Chief Executive Officer, Zurich North America

Charles W. Scharf, President & CEO, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Michael Schmidtberger, Partner & Chair of the Executive Committee, Sidley Austin LLP

Alan D. Schnitzer, Chairman & CEO, The Travelers Companies, Inc.

Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC

Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder, Blackstone

Suzanne Shank, President & CEO and Christopher J. Williams, Chairman, Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC

Tarek Sherif, Chairman & CEO, Medidata Solutions, Inc.

Jonathan Silvan, Chief Executive Officer, Global Strategy Group, LLC

Adam Silver, Commissioner, National Basketball Association

Joshua Silverman, Chief Executive Officer, Etsy, Inc.

Michael Slocum, President, Commercial Banking, Capital One

Rob Speyer, President & CEO, Tishman Speyer

Robert K. Steel, Chief Executive Officer, Perella Weinberg Partners LP

Douglas C. Steiner, Chairman, Steiner Studios

Steven R. Swartz, President & CEO, Hearst

Julie Sweet, Chief Executive Officer, Accenture and Jimmy Etheredge, Chief Executive Officer, Accenture North America

Paul J. Taubman, Chairman & CEO, PJT Partners Inc.

Teiji Teramoto, Chairman & CEO, Mizuho Americas

Owen D. Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Properties

Mary Ann Tighe, Chief Executive Officer, NY Tri-State Region, CBRE, Inc.

James S. Tisch, President & CEO, Loews Corporation

Paul Todd, Chief Executive Officer, GLG

William B. Tyree, Managing Partner, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Joseph Ucuzoglu, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte

Sayu Ueno, President & CEO, Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc.

Robert Vecchio, Chief Executive Officer, LPI, Inc.

Ellis Verdi, President, DeVito/Verdi

James R. Wacht, President, Lee & Associates NYC

George H. Walker, Chairman & CEO, Neuberger Berman Group LLC

Pamela S. Wasserstein, President, Vox Media

Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, EisnerAmper LLP

David Winter, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Standard Industries Inc.

Robert Wolf, Chief Executive Officer, 32 Advisors LLC

Laila J. Worrell, Chief Executive Officer, Altran Americas

Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City

Tim Zagat, Co-Founder, Zagat

David M. Zaslav, President & CEO, Discovery, Inc.

Jide Zeitlin, Chairman & CEO, Tapestry, Inc.

Strauss Zelnick, Partner, ZMC

John Zimmer, Co-Founder & President, Lyft