ELC COO Brickson Diamond was featured in a cover article in The Washington Post’s Economy & Business section on December 24 about how finding financing for movies with black casts and directors continues to be a major issue in the film industry. The full-page article comes on the heels of the national release of “Selma” due in theaters nationwide on January 9 The critically acclaimed movie about the historic civil rights march struggled to find financing from today’s biggest movie studios.

Speaking of “Selma”…we want to recognize and commend our ELC members who are part of a group of 27 New York business leaders that created a fund for 27,000 7^th – 9^th grade students to see “Selma” for free at select New York theaters. ELC contributors to the fund include:

Gerald Adolph, Senior Partner, Booz & Company (and Gwen Adolph)

Ursula Burns, Chairman and CEO, Xerox (and Lloyd Bean)

Valentino D. Carlotti, Partner, Goldman Sachs Group

Ken Chenault, Chairman and CEO, American Express (and Kathryn Chenault)

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., President and CEO, TIAA-CREF

Bruce Gordon, Chairman, ADT, former CEO NAACP

Vernon Jordan, Senior Managing Director at Lazard (and Ann Dibble Jordan)

Scott Mills, Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Administration, Viacom (and Iva Mills)

Marva Smalls, Executive Vice President, Global Inclusion Strategy, Viacom

Reginald Van Lee, Executive Vice President, Booz Allen