Leaders of Color
Profile of Bernard Loyd
Bernard
Loyd
Partner
McKinsey & Company
Mr. Loyd was born in one of Chicago’s most distressed neighborhoods on
the West Side. By age eight, he lived in Germany and Liberia. After high school
he returned to the U.S. to study engineering and management.
Says Loyd, “I’ve always felt very fortunate for the opportunities
that I received and feel obligated to give back to the communities that nurtured
me.”
Perhaps one of his most life-changing moves, however, occurred many years
later -- after becoming one of the few African Americans working at McKinsey
in 1990.
“I was a consultant serving Caucasian clients, largely. And I lived in
Lincoln Park. I felt a disconnect between what I was experiencing and what
was happening in the African American community.”
That’s when Mr. Loyd took action. He moved to Bronzeville, to be able
to participate in rebuilding the predominantly African American community.
And he decided to help other African Americans break into the white collar
world of McKinsey by forming the Black Client Service Staff affinity group,
which focuses on the recruitment and retention of African American consultants.
“Corporations with strong cultures have sharply-defined pictures of success
to which they compare candidates. These pictures are difficult to apply to
different groups,” explains Loyd. “We helped translate those models,
so McKinsey could better assess
non-traditional candidates. We worked hard to create a critical mass of Black
consultants and changed the firm’s culture and expectations around diversity.”
Mr. Loyd reports he is leaving McKinsey & Company at the end of October
to focus on economic development of inner-city areas.
