Suzanne Shank’s Commitment to Black Women Was on Full Display at the Mackinac Policy Conference

“Don’t settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that’s in us.” – Angela Bassett The 2024 Mackinac Policy Conference was a watershed moment in Michigan’s political landscape, and the conference chair, Suzanne Shank – President, CEO, and Co-Founder of the largest Black-owned full-service investment banking firm – was the driving force behind so much of its success. Shank, a renowned business leader and advocate for diversity and inclusion, brought her unique vision to the conference, shaping a program that showcased the state’s most pressing issues and featured a remarkable lineup of speakers, predominantly women, particularly Black women. “It was a bit more work than I anticipated…but I was very intentional about wanting to have certain types of speakers. I wanted it to be bipartisan. I wanted a cabinet secretary. So I reached out to the governor. I reached out to the mayor a couple times. I reached out to people I trust to help bring in real talent that would give a slightly different view,” Shank said in an interview with Michigan Chronicle during the conference. “We...