A plea for diversity, an opportunity for personal and financial growth.

It is always difficult for me to write entries like this. Even reading about issues related to racism and injustice is often motivated more by a sense of social obligation to my creed rather than any semblance of a pleasurable pursuit. But I also believe that renaissance can follow tragedy.

The recent events unfolding in America speak to a lifelong experience for black and brown communities that, every few years, appears to take center stage in the American paradigm. I am a Latino male born to Puerto Rican and Dominican parents, and while my experiences are both uniquely mine and shared by the broader societal racial construct, I am regularly reminded of the social biases that follow me like I am not “institutional” or “experienced” enough within my own profession — it does not matter that I have an ivy league education, fortune 500 leadership experience, and a track record investing in billion-dollar companies.

While I know that I am more privileged than most from my background (and even mainstream society at large), I like many people of color in the United States cannot help but look over my shoulder for fear — that in an ignorant moment, all that we have achieved could be taken away. The recent events remind my family and I just how frail protections can be for people of color in the US where our life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness can be deprived just because of a higher concentration of melanin — a biological adaptation from living in places where lighter…