William Michael Cunningham addresses Black Employees at Merck Pharmaceutical Co

WASHINGTON - March 3, 2021 - PRLog -- William Michael Cunningham spoke to a Black employees affinity group at Merck Pharmaceutical Co. during a virtual Black History Month 2021 event. Merck's Black Employees Network is called LEAD - League of Employees of African Descent.  The organization held a series of virtual events for Black History Month. Mr. Cunningham addressed the group on February 10th at 2pm. His talk was titled "How Black people and Black Families can Survive and Thrive post-COVID."

In his presentation, Mr. Cunningham emphasized that the key to survival is cooperation and collaboration. His analysis outlined the expected impacts of COVID-19 and ranked those impacts from  most to least significant:

Health (95%). This is due to the lack of top-level hospitals in communities of color, a result of gentrification;
Education (90%) - This factor was identified as having the best opportunity for a fix through more equitable and creative educational opportunities;
Employment (75%) - We estimate Black unemployment hit 40% at peak. This is because Black people are the last hired, first fired. In addition, many Black Americans work in the restaurant, hotel and food service industries, which have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic. Proposals to raise the minimum wage will help significantly;
Homeownership (50%) - We suggest that the Fed engage with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to create mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to help Black homebuyers;
Small Businesses (40%) - Lower than expected impact since Black business owners are equipped with better survival skills.

The highest social return factors were identified as:
1. Health
2. Education

For more on Mr. Cunningham, see: http://williammichaelcunningham.com/
For a copy of the presentation, please email info@creativeinvest.com