Inclusive leadership, the 15% pledge, and financial literacy

Executive overview

Two conversations from the Masters of Scale Summit explore what inclusive leadership looks like in practice. Emma Grede built Good American and Skims by choosing partners and investors based on trust, not credentials, and launched the 15% Pledge to direct retail spend toward Black-owned brands. Melody Hobson argues that DEI rollbacks misread the data: diversity improves outcomes, and the economy is not a zero-sum game.

Inclusion is not charity — it is a business proposition that expands the pie for everyone.

Emma Grede on building companies and choosing partners

• Only take investors you would want to spend time with — the relationship outlasts any deal term.
• Choose partners to cover your own weaknesses, not to mirror your strengths.
• Hiring is the most important part of the founder role; culture is built one person at a time.
• "Self-made" is a myth — acknowledge the people who surround you.
• Instinct sharpened by necessity is a competitive advantage; act on the hunch, then refine.

The 15% Pledge and retail inclusion

• Black Americans are ~15% of the US population; the pledge asks retailers to match that share in spend on Black-owned brands.
• Framing: brands aren't racist by intent — they buy from networks they already know.
• The pledge has created a $14B pipeline of opportunity and put 750 new brands on Sephora, Nordstrom, and Macy's shelves.
• It is a revenue play for retailers, not a sacrifice — new brands reach overlooked customer segments.

B Corp certification as an unexpected marketing asset

• Good American's team pushed B Corp certification over leadership's resistance; it was seen as a cost and distraction.
• Outcome 1: the team members who led it became the most loyal and innovative in the company.
• Outcome 2: a distinct customer cohort ("the B Corp Bs") emerged with higher brand commitment than any other segment.
• Lesson: the initiatives you didn't plan can move the needle more than the ones you did.

Marketing and channels

• No channel arbitrage remains in social media — what worked last year does not work now.
• The only durable strategy: solve a real problem and meet customers where they are.
• Physical retail is growing, not declining — people want touch, feel, and in-person community.
• Ignoring any channel stifles growth; being a channel snob costs you the customers who discover through wholesale.

Melody Hobson on financial literacy

• 77% of Americans report anxiety about money; financial illiteracy is not a class issue — it cuts across income levels.
• Only 25 US states mandate financial literacy in schools; most curricula miss compounding, inflation, and markets.
• Money habits are learned from parents — if you are not financially literate, you are passing anxiety to your children.
• Modern payment abstraction (cards, phones, ATMs) removes the finality of cash and masks cause and effect for children.
• Teaching value starts at age 3: "cupcake or Barbie?" builds the instinct to assess trade-offs.

DEI rollbacks and the zero-sum fallacy

• The Harvard affirmative action ruling had a chilling legal effect across corporate America, prompting general counsels to retreat.
• The retreat conflates legal risk with strategic mistake — every data point shows diversity improves outcomes.
• Homogeneous teams produce incremental thinking; diverse backgrounds and perspectives generate barrier-breaking ideas.
• The zero-sum framing is false: America's economy was built on an expanding pie and a growing middle class.
• Those in influence have a responsibility to keep pushing — the rooms of power are still not representative.