A Statement from Morgan Stanley's Black Managing Directors

Yesterday, my fellow Black Managing Directors and I sent this letter to the @Morgan Stanley community and I want to share it with you. I am proud to be among them.

Over the course of the past few weeks, the world has watched and reacted to unspeakable acts of hatred that have resulted in the deaths of three Black Americans. Sadly, these incidents are not isolated. The Black community at large has lost many lives as a result of acts fueled by bias and hate.

We are incredibly saddened and disturbed by these acts of violence and grieve with the families of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and the countless men and women who have lost their lives in a similar manner over the years. We also grieve alongside our colleagues at Morgan Stanley, our friends and our families, many of whom are deeply wounded and are experiencing a range of emotions including anger, fear and most notably sadness. 

This moment is deeply personal to all of us; through our lived experiences, we are all too familiar with the impact of racial injustice in our community, notwithstanding our success as Black professionals. We also know that the issues that led to these unnecessary deaths are deeply rooted in our nation’s history and have continued to exist due to the lack of meaningful change. We must all take responsibility for our biases, actions and inactions. Additionally, educational, government and corporate institutions must make focused, accountable investments to drive change. 

We are proud of the Firm’s leadership for speaking out on this issue, for moving quickly to support all of us by creating safe spaces for dialogue, and for investing in organizations that directly support Black Americans who have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also encouraging to know that the Firm is actively considering other ways to support and strengthen the Black community.  

We are also pledging to do our part by committing our time and our resources internally and externally in our community. 

We extend our support to members of our Morgan Stanley family. We are here as a source of comfort and encouragement and invite you to connect with any of us in the coming days and beyond. Externally, we are making a donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, an organization committed to fighting for racial justice and equality for all Americans.  

We believe that we have the power to create long lasting social, educational and economic change. We invite our Morgan Stanley colleagues to do the same. 

Respectfully,

Tosin Ajayi

Vanessa Henley

Peter Akwaboah

Melissa James

Kow Atta-Mensah

Nigel James

Bruce Burrows

Derek Melvin

Kwasi Benneh

Johnbull Okpara

Lancelot Comrie

Christopher Owens

Mandell Crawley

Les Peter

Tanya Curry

Lucy Quist

Conroy Daley

Susan Reid

Malick Diop

Sandra Richards

Valerie Dixon

Steve Rodgers

Amina Elderfield

Patrick Romain

Amy Ellis

Chris Scott

Ekene Ezulike

Wendy Sylvester

Crystal Farmer

Jeffrey Tucker

Alphonzo Grant

George Van Amson

Aliah Greene

Karen Veary

Carol Greene-Vincent

Alice Vilma

Aaron Greeno

Larry Wilson

Carla Harris

Yared Yawand-Wossen

Leon Henderson, Jr.