Nathaniel Clark – A&E Editor 

nuc5002@psu.edu

Photo Credit: Nathaniel Clark/ Behrend Beacon

On November 10, Behrend’s Speaker Series hosted its second event of the 2022-2023 school year. The speaker chosen for this edition of the series was Martina Edwards. Edwards is well-known for being the first black woman with a seat at the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE, where she served as an equity trader for the investment group Merrill Lynch.

Since her time at the Exchange, Edwards has served a variety of positions but currently serves as Chief of Strategic Partnerships at Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, known as ACE. 

Before the speech, I had the pleasure of interviewing Edwards at Behrend’s Logan House. I asked her if she felt any adversity while working at the NYSE. In response to this question, Edwards discussed that she did not realize the “magnitude” of what she had accomplished in her time serving there as she was considerably more focused on not making any mistakes in her position. 

Edwards did note that there were some instances where people would disregard her legitimacy in the position. In response to these accusations, Edwards would say “Well, I interned and I interviewed. How did you get here?” 

After discussing her adversity, I decided to ask Edwards about her thoughts on the possible increase of women in the stock market industry, wondering what could be done in continuing this increase. Edwards feels that work needs to be done in the financial services fields to support the growth of diversity and inclusion.

She also noted that recruiting circles need to go out and search for this diversity rather than sticking with what they know or their “comfort zones.” This move could be done through partnerships with diverse networks, but as Edwards said, “progress is slow.”

In closing to her response, Edwards noted that she sees the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery as inflection points for various organizations to develop diversity and inclusion as it was one of the first instances in which American society could not look away from what occurred.

To move closer to Edwards’ speech topic, I asked her what could be done to lessen or eliminate America’s racial wealth gap. In response, Edwards pointed out the difficulty that comes with getting a group to catch up with its peers after they have been systematically stunted for the past 400 years. In her eyes, the best possible solution to this gap would be through the collective acknowledgment and pouring of an “accelerant” onto this group. This “accelerant” would be through knowledge, learning, funds, and federal changes. 

At 7:37 p.m. Senior Director of Administration and Student Affairs, Ken Miller introduced Martina Edwards at Behrend’s McGarvey Complex. Edwards began her speech by discussing her love for Behrend and the Speaker Series, noting its importance in teaching the youth. She then moved into her own story, starting it with the phrase “you are part of a whole.”

Edwards broke down her story beginning with childhood. While her family lived in a trailer with a variety of farm animals in the background, she said that her community of enterprising parents created a tightly-knit environment filled with empathy. She pointed to a rule that she learned early in life: circumstances do not determine your outcomes. 

Edwards then touched on how she was able to become the first Black female NYSE broker. She mostly focused on the assistance he received from Bobby Cunningham who had put down his own social and financial capital on the line to get her the position. After telling her story, she noted that the people she knew and the places she lived in shaped her and propelled her to new heights, leading to her “moral imperative to pay it forward.”

With that in mind, Edwards moved into the various ways in which she has attempted to pay it forward. She mentioned her time at Sponsors for Educational Opportunities and similar positions. Edwards then moved into discussing her investment group ACE. 

ACE’s main goal is to remove the economic caps set in place for minority groups. Edwards and her group assist small businesses through the combating of redlining, the refusal of a loan or insurance to someone because they live in an area deemed to be a poor financial risk.

Edwards closed off her speech by discussing her S.I.R V. method. This anagram stands for Serve, Invest, & Return Value and is Edward’s value system for empowering others. She then called for the audience to S.I.R V. by volunteering, voting, donating, working, spending, and posting on social media. 

To conclude this article, I asked Martina Edwards if she had any advice for minority students in Behrend’s business program. The main piece of advice Edwards gave was to “move forward boldly and be confident” while also not being afraid to pivot and adjust when necessary. “Fail fast, fail forward.”