The Inkwell Group, a private equity firm investing in healthcare, financial services, industrial manufacturing and media & telecom has landed in D.C. — and with them, they're bringing a new way of bringing more minorities into executive positions.
Here's how the program, called the "Executive Suite," works: business people interested in taking a leadership role at a company or who might want an opportunity to be a company advisor apply to the group's Executive Suite. The Inkwell Group will then pull from its program pool of accepted applicants the next time they have a company that might be looking for a new C-level executive, board member or advisor.
Right now, they have about 10 professionals in the pool now who happen to be both women and minorities, including retired executives and experts in the field.
"It is not something where you are necessarily looking for a job right now," said co-founder and partner Chijoke Asomugha. "But really it’s about wanting an opportunity to be a leader of a growing company, whether you’re employed or not."
The Inkwell Group, which is minority-owned, is based both in the District and in Cleveland, Ohio, where the two co-founders, Asomugha and Marques Martin, are based. The two partners met while they were both working in private equity in Cleveland.
Between the two of them, they have completed and advised more than 20 acquisitions and divestitures totaling $3 billion before launching The Inkwell Group. The firm plans to invest between $3 million to $30 million in equity per group and focus more on middle-to-late stage investments.
"When you think about a place like Washington, D.C. and just the amount of talent that is in the market, in terms of people who can come and be a part of The Inkwell Group team, as well, it’s significant," Asomugha said.
"You don’t get more diverse than a city like D.C."
Moving forward, because they make investments nationwide, the group isn't worried about how their strategy will change — even once the new administration moves into the White House.
"Our strategy in the marketplace is not reactionary to anything that is going on in the current economic or political climate," Martin said. "So we view the focus on diversity at the executive level as something that we think is good for business, no matter who is in office and what is going on in the economy."
Image used via CC BY 2.0 — credit Tax Credits
