Mitchell came from a black family with a business spirit. As a teenager growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, his mother and grandmother opened a bakery called the Smith Family Bake Shop. Mitchell himself was well-known for making red velvet cakes that he still enjoys cooking from time to time. But the shop was closed a few years later, in part because of his family’s lack of business acumen. He decided to go to school to study some of his previous studies, graduating from University with a degree in personalities, and then to Harvard Business School.
Mitchell’s work at HR took him to Singapore, where he hired for Citigroup. That’s where he spent the years of his Black Lives Matter team, seeing from a distance how American-speaking dialogue is changing. He also realized that his experiences as a Black Asian were very different from what he saw in his homeland. “Most people in Singapore just consider me an American,” he says. “There was no joke or faintness that was part of the daily routine. It was like walking this way and carrying a heavy 200-pound suit.” When he returned to the US, he knew that overcoming prejudice could be very important to him. no do this work as part of my job, ”he says.
Shortly after his return, Mitchell found work in HR on Netflix. The giant promoter has another working culture that emphasizes independence and transparency no matter what. Some former employees have said that it is illegal, full of unethical shooting and monitoring of performance (each employee can criticize anyone else). But Mitchell, a perpetual singer, compares the design of the Netflix company to a jazz band, where skills and expertise are essential. The lack of position in the company allows him to do what he calls a “jazz solo” when he started researching black banks.
The first person Michell spoke to after the April dinner was Bill Bynum, who was able to highlight all aspects of the importance of black banks and CDFIs. Mitchell also took the Mehrsa Baradaran book Type of Money. Using its 384 pages, he was amazed to hear how many laws had been enacted over the centuries to curb the black economy. These difficulties, he noted, began at Freedman’s Bank earlier, where black people saw their deposits under the control of white supremacists because of the risks. “Until I read this book, I thought it had an easy problem to deal with,” Mitchell said. “You can’t really help until you understand the problems.”
Baradaran’s book, as well as other recent works such as Richard Rothstein’s Type of Law, emphasizes how prejudice was not merely a reflection of the interests of individuals or organizations; is based on the rules and regulations developed by government agencies. The problem was permanent; the answers should be the same. “What my book shows, I believe, is that you don’t have to discriminate in order to be racist,” Baradaran said. “The system we have in place will bring about discrimination unless you have a clear idea of how to deal with these issues.”
Mitchell decided to approach the author. Baradaran has been asking for more requests from companies that want to clean up their products in anticipation of America’s transformation in competition. However, he was eager to receive Mitchell’s singing because he felt that Netflix had already tried to work with a variety of ideas. The company had a higher percentage of black people, at 8%, than Facebook, Google, or Microsoft. The mixer also invested heavily in the Black Stars’ list of directors and directors such as Ava DuVernay and Spike Lee, who praised the company. “Netflix makes news,” says Baradaran. “It’s the Netflix market, and the market is doing well in terms of representation and diversity. That’s what I would say to other businesses – look at your market to see how you can change there.”
Baradaran also expressed Mitchell’s willingness to support small black businesses like his family’s bakery. So he volunteered to help her make up her mind. “He was the one who encouraged us to think big,” Mitchell says. With the help of Baradaran, Mitchell began writing two and a half articles outlining his vision for how Netflix can support black banks. From the beginning, they got married thinking that others who make money on Netflix should work harder. “A 2% margin means that, as we grow as a company, our commitment to these areas will continue to grow,” Mitchell said.