2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration
♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ Goin’ home t’ live with God ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ Goin’ home t’ live with God ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’
meet my mother ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my mother ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my mother ♪ ♪ I’m goin’ t’ live wid God ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my mother ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my mother ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my mother ♪ ♪ I’m goin’ t’ live wid God ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪
♪ Goin’ home t’ live with God ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles
wid God ♪ ♪ No more ♪ ♪ No more ♪ ♪ Weepin’ an’ a-wailin’ ♪ ♪ No more ♪ ♪ No more ♪ ♪ Weepin’ an’ a-wailin’ ♪ ♪ No more ♪ ♪ No more ♪ ♪ Weepin’ an’ a-wailin’ ♪ ♪ No wailin’ ♪ ♪ No more ♪ ♪ Wailin’ ♪ ♪ No more ♪ ♪ Weepin’ ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪
♪ Goin’ home t’ live with God ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ De troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ Soon ah will be don’ a-wid de troubles ob de worl’ ♪ ♪ Goin’ home t’ live with God ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my Jesus ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my Jesus ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my Jesus ♪ ♪ I’m goin’ t’ live wid God ♪ ♪ In de mornin’ Lord ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my
Jesus ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my Jesus ♪ ♪ I wan’ t’ meet my Jesus ♪ ♪ I’m goin’ t’ live wid God ♪ ♪ I’m goin’ t’ live wid God ♪ ♪ I’m going to live ♪ ♪ Wid ♪ ♪ God ♪ Good morning. That moving performance was by Elégie, a vocal ensemble from Cleveland Heights, featuring four classically trained vocalists. Alexander Wright, Maverick Donahue, Michael Hines, and Brian Barron. What a pleasure to have them open this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Celebration. We welcome all of you who are joining us today.
Our theme for this year’s celebration comes from Dr. King himself. “No greater tragedy can befall a people than to rest complacently on some past achievement. Noble yesterdays must always be challenges to more creative tomorrows”. Leading us in today’s invocation and prayer. We welcome the Reverend Lisa Morrison, senior director for Cleveland Clinic Center for Spiritual Care. Thank you, Dr. Mihaljevic. I’m pleased to be here today with all of you to celebrate the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As we gather to honor Dr. King, we remember his commitment to healing, to
wholeness, and to justice for all people. We pause to give honor to his achievements for civil rights through his commitment to nonviolence and the profound, lasting influence he has had on social justice movements. The man and the movement we celebrate today was deeply rooted in the African American religious experience, a spiritual movement which held and still holds the pain and joy of struggling for healing, for dignity, and for a just and beloved community. We do not sit back and admire Dr. King’s life and legacy idly, for we know that although we celebrate the strides that
have been made, there is still more work to do. Dr. King reminded us that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Dr. King wasn’t making a statement of political divide. He wasn’t leading us to adopt a one-time fits all principle. His comments were deeply spiritual in nature, calling each of us to be a part of daily work that engages people, policies, and systems toward justice. In his March, 1965, sermon on Courage to the People in Selma, Dr. King said that, “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for
that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.” This, friends, is a call to action. It is an invitation for each of us to work within our spaces and our gifts, and both within and outside our comfort zones to lean into the work for justice. As I offer this invocation today, I invite you to take a moment to center yourself and let us pause and receive these words together as we honor and remember the legacy
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. May our spirits be renewed for the work to which we have been called. May we stand up for justice and may we keep moving forward. May we move forward, not just with the words we speak, but also through the actions of our lives. May we move forward, not just with what we dream, but also through the witness of our lives. May we move forward in ways that continue to bend that long arc of the moral universe toward justice together with respect and care and dignity and justice for all. May
it be so. Dr. King’s Christian Faith played a large role in his sense of social justice. He urged all of us to act in faith rather than stand by in silence. We see that same sense of mission in the lives of many Cleveland Clinic caregivers and local leaders. Let’s meet three of them who are making a difference in the lives of our patients and communities. ♪ Faith is the security for me that there’s meaning in what is happening, good, bad, or indifferent. Even though you can’t see it, even though you can’t touch it, you know
it’s there. It grounds you. It helps you to focus, but it also gives you hope for tomorrow. Faith is God, it’s love, it’s giving. It is commitment, it is servitude. It is the first thing I lead by. For those of us who work in healthcare on a daily basis, we know it’s blessings and we know it’s limitations. People show up wanting to be cured. A lot of what we do is help people live with what they have. The hospital accentuates the change that’s happening in many people’s lives. I get to be that mediator sometimes to
be able to have that journey, that this is what makes sense for this patient and/or this family, and that I get to interpolate that. That’s sacred grounds for me. We here at the Cleveland Clinic, we are interested about our patients’ lives and not just our patients’ lives, our caregivers. We’re here to support one another. Yeah, we’ll get the work done, but you need to know that I’m arm in arm with you. I’m locked in this together with you and you’re not going through this alone. My faith is focused on making sure that people know that
they matter and we can accomplish just about anything. When we put our minds to it and we do it together, and when I’m going through a really rocky time, it was my faith that let me know, no, you’re built for this. This is why you’re here. A lot of what I do today is because of how I grew up. I was raised by a single mother and we lived here in Cleveland, including homeless shelters. I’ll never forget. We would get on the bus, we would ride up Kinsman and go to a church and we would
feed people, but at the end of the feeding, we would also need groceries to take with us. We would be catching a bus back to live in a shelter with other families, but it was just important to her even in those trying times that we gave back. So I just wanna be an example. Sometimes when people are going through, they just need to see possibility. They need to see that, oh, he made it out and he lived on the same street as me. He lived in the same shelter as me. ♪ That quote speaks to
me a lot. We take the past and we learn from it. We have to continue to grow and expand and look for ways to have greater victories. We have the ability to ask ‘why?’ and to envision more, and it’s really tiring always speaking out, but there’s the death of the spirit that happens if you don’t. I think about his courage. I think about perseverance, for the sacrifices, not only did he make for his community, but for this world. We can talk about statistics here in our community. We can talk about people that are in poverty,
people who are being raised by single parents, people who have challenges. When I’m doing speeches around the city, I said, “Please don’t get in your fancy car and leave our communities in your rear view mirrors,” and that’s what we all have to use as a guiding post that when God blesses you, we all have a responsibility to make sure we give back. ♪ Stories like these can inspire us with personal examples of faith and service to others that so many of our caregivers and leaders bring to their work and lives. Thank you all for being
here today to take part in our annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Celebration. This is not just the day of remembrance. This is an annual reminder that we all have a year-round obligation to fulfill the ideals of justice and equality set forth by Dr. King. At Cleveland Clinic, diversity is an intrinsic part of who we are and who we serve. It is rooted in our mission and cultivated in each and every caregiver. In 2021, Cleveland Clinic treated nearly 3 million patients worldwide. People of many races, ethnicities, religions, ages, sexual orientations, cultures, and other backgrounds.
Our inspiration is to have a workforce as diverse as patients we serve. Diversity of caregivers allows for better care of diverse patient populations. This begins with hiring diverse talent. The goal of hiring a diverse workforce cannot stand alone. It must be fused with equity and inclusion to ensure that diverse employees and their viewpoints can be found in all departments and at all levels of the organization. Equity and inclusion offer a sense of purpose and belonging. I’m a native Croatian with stops along the way in Zurich, Boston, Abu Dhabi, and Cleveland. To say that the cultures
were different from one location to the next is an understatement. I develop a deep appreciation and respect for each culture. We must combine diversity, equity, and inclusion with cultural competence, which recognizes differences and allows people to feel respected and valued. This creates a well-formed ecosystem designed to serve all equally and with respect. At Cleveland Clinic, our mission is guided by four care priorities, care for patients, care for caregivers, care for community, and care for the organization. Diversity, equity, and inclusion means something different to each of these priority areas. When caring for patients, it means having
a diverse workforce that is representative of the patients we serve, and expanding access to our healthcare services. This is essential to creating healthcare equity. When caring for caregivers, it means that every caregiver has equitable opportunity, support and compensation while cultivating a safe, respectful workplace, free of racism and bias. When caring for the organization, it means hiring people from all walks of life, which offers a larger talent pool, broader array of ideas, and an empowered engaged workforce. And when caring for the community, it means strengthening the neighborhoods we call home and creating a healthier community for
everyone. It means being responsive to local needs, such as food insecurity, lead poisoning prevention, maternal fetal health, or economic development and job creation. Caring for the community is an enormously challenging goal, one the Cleveland Clinic is leaning into vigorously. Two years ago, Cleveland Clinic publicly supported Cleveland City Council in its declaration that racism is a public health crisis in our community. Unfortunately, this is still true today, and we continue to work hard to turn the tide. Our efforts are both wide-ranging and focused, including culturally-specific services, including a Hispanic clinic and an LGBTQ+ clinic, outreach events
and free community health fairs, an expanded, mobile pediatric school-based healthcare program and a program that directly connects patients with health and social organizations to reduce barriers to care. These are just some of the efforts we are making in the healthcare realm. We realize that our role goes far beyond healthcare. As one of the state’s largest employers, we have an ethical obligation to use our resources for the good of the community. Through partnerships with state and local governments, community leaders, concerned citizens, and other healthcare organizations, we are making a difference. Cleveland Clinic is a founding member
of OneTen, a coalition of employers across the United States that aims to hire, promote, and advance 1 million black individuals into family-sustaining careers over the next 10 years. In our first year, Cleveland Clinic has already hired and advanced 900 black caregivers. In our renewed efforts to hire our neighbors, we hired 1000 Cleveland residents in 2021 and we’ll hire another 1500 this year. Three years ago, council President Blaine Griffin and I walked to Fairfax Neighborhood and hosted a conversation with residents and community leaders. We wanted to better understand the needs of the community and how Cleveland
Clinic could contribute. It became clear that access to healthy food options is a significant need, which led to our work with Meijer and community partners to build a grocery store and apartments in Fairfax. These projects provide healthy food choices, safe housing and jobs. Of all the social determinants of health, jobs that pay, family sustaining wages, may be the most important. They provide money that allows for healthier choices and health insurance coverage. That’s why we are focused on local, inclusive hiring through programs like the Cleveland Innovation District which has set a goal of creating 20,000 jobs
over 10 years through a partnership that includes Cleveland Clinic, Jobs Ohio, the Ohio Department of Development, University Hospitals, MetroHealth, Case Western Reserve University, and Cleveland State University – a diversity, equity, inclusion supplier/accelerator to mentor local businesses owned by traditionally underrepresented entrepreneurs, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, minorities, veterans, and women. The Aspire Nurses Scholar Program, which offers college scholarship to underrepresented students, interested in pursuing registered nursing careers, recruiting and coaching programs embedded in neighborhoods to help remove challenges related to job applications, and interviewing. A supply diversity program that identifies and works with qualified diverse suppliers
to the tune of $1.1 billion over the past 10 years. And job fairs that offer on-the-spot hiring of qualified applicants. In November, I sat down with Ken Frazier, executive chairman on the board of Merck and Company as part of Ideas for Tomorrow speaker series. He talked about how the Americans with Disabilities Act mandated that curbs include cutouts for wheelchair accessibility. But then he pointed out that if you look at who uses those accessible curbs, it includes parents pushing baby strollers, pedestrians pulling suitcases, bicyclists walking beside their bikes. In other words, anyone and everyone. His point
was this. Every time we remove a barrier from one group in our society, we eliminate it for everyone. We all rise when we lift others. Dr. King understood this. He championed justice and equality for all people. When caring for our patients, our caregivers, our community, or our organization, the specific diversity goals and programs will differ for each. But our over arching values applies to all. That we intentionally create an environment of compassionate belonging when all are valued and respected. We want everyone to feel that Cleveland Clinic is a place for a person like me. To
reach this goal, we must be intentional. We must define what it means and how we get there. We must live it every day, and we must realize that we are all equally responsible for it. Now, I’d like to introduce Jackie Robertson, Cleveland Clinic’s Chief of Diversity and Inclusion. She joined Cleveland Clinic this year to drive our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts forward. Please welcome Jackie Robertson. Thank you, Dr. Mihaljevic On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Celebration, I’m proud to speak about Cleveland Clinic’s efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion for our patients, our
caregivers, our organization, and the communities we serve around the globe. At the core of our work is establishing a sense of belonging for everyone. Every patient and caregiver, each of whom brings their own diverse perspectives and life experiences wants to feel accepted and respected. They want to feel like they belong. That’s why our diversity, equity and inclusion framework is based on this vision: “Cleveland Clinic is a place for a person like me.” How do we make that vision a reality? It starts by seeking input and collaboration from across the global Cleveland Clinic enterprise and throughout
each of the communities we serve. We do this through listening tours, surveys, data, employee resource groups, community advisory councils, and our Executive Diversity Inclusion and Racial Equity Council known as DIRECT. This council is made up of senior level leaders from both clinical and non-clinical areas who serve as allies and ambassadors with the influence to promote diversity and inclusion for patients and caregivers across our global health system. We know that a large part of diversity and inclusion is leadership cultural competency. It’s important that leaders at all levels of the organization understand that their influence matters, and
inspiring, engaging, and retaining diverse talent. But it’s also important to realize everyone, not just leaders, has a role in creating welcoming environments for their colleagues and patients. Our employee resource groups offer caregivers the ability to influence policy and effect change while providing support and a network of inclusivity. We currently have 10 employee resource groups, including those representing Black Heritage, Clinic Pride, diverse ability, interfaith, Latinx, and Hispanic caregivers. And these are just a few examples of what we’re doing within our organization. We understand, however, that our responsibility extends beyond our walls and into our communities. Our
community advisory councils housed in our regional locations have been working with their neighborhood residents, community leaders, local businesses and nonprofits to identify and address the unique needs of their communities. And already, efforts are underway to work in multiple communities to address digital equity, food insecurity, infant mortality, maternal health, and early literacy, among others. These initiatives will be finalized and executed over the next year as a way to honor Dr. King’s legacy beyond one day of celebration. As Dr. King states in the theme of today’s program, “No greater tragedy can befall a people than to rest
complacently on some past achievement. Noble yesterdays must always be challenges to more creative tomorrows.” We look to our past to inform our next steps. What have we done well? Where do we need to improve? We’re not answering these questions by ourselves. Rather we’re asking our patients, our caregivers, and our neighbors. We are gathering data through surveys and analyses of caregivers and patient demographics. And as we move forward, the foundation of our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts will be built upon data and measurable outcomes. Cleveland Clinic’s vision is to be “The best place for care anywhere
and the best place to work in healthcare.” Reaching this aspiration is not possible without a focus on the culture. I’m confident that we, all of us together, will continue to make a real difference because Cleveland Clinic has a vibrant culture of inclusion and a level of compassion that is unmatched. Thank you, Jackie. We are grateful for your leadership on important diversity and inclusion strategies across our Cleveland Clinic Health System. Our keynote speaker today is Chris Young, executive Vice President of Business Development Strategy and Ventures at Microsoft. He’s the former CEO of the cybersecurity company, McAfee,
and has held senior roles at Intel, Cisco, and others. He serves on the board of American Express and on the cybersecurity advisory committee for the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. While Chris has an impressive career, behind all of this is an equally inspiring story that reflects the experiences of many of the people and communities we work with at Cleveland Clinic. Chris grew up in Cleveland. He went to public school here and eventually went on to study at Princeton University, then Harvard Business School. Over the years, he has built a career in technology focused on
empowering people and organizations to succeed. He also shares a special personal connection to our organization. His mother worked at Cleveland Clinic for over 30 years. While growing up, Chris volunteered at Cleveland Clinic and while he lives in the San Francisco Bay area with his family today, Cleveland and Cleveland Clinic had a strong influence in his life. Today he’s one of the tech industry’s most senior African-American executives. Please welcome Chris Young. Thank you, Dr. Mihaljevic. And thank you to all of you At the Cleveland Clinic, I also want to extend specific gratitude to the doctors, nurses,
and staff for your role and commitment to care during a difficult three years in navigating our global pandemic, it’s really a gift for all of us to be able to gather today, albeit virtually, to celebrate and pay tribute to the legacy of Dr. King. A moment where the the past and the legacy of Dr. King isn’t just a time to look back, but a time to look ahead and ask ourselves some questions. How can we keep his legacy alive, and how do we create a better future for the generations ahead? So I wanna thank the
Cleveland Clinic for hosting this important event for the past 30 years and for grounding all the work the Clinic is doing in support of the broader community. Now, in thinking about Dr. King’s legacy, he made hundreds, if not thousands, of sermons and speeches. All with very profound messages. And I’ve read and actually studied many of them throughout college when I developed a really deep interest in US history, and in particular the Civil Rights Movement. Now, the theme of today’s event really resonates with me. “No greater tragedy can befall a people than to rest complacently on
some past achievement. Noble yesterdays must always be challenges to more creative tomorrows”. Dr. King said this in 1959, and I wanna pause for a moment and honor that timeframe with some brief context. These remarks were made after the successful years-long effort to end segregation on public buses. And Dr. King was clearly one of the many people who played an important role in leading the bus boycott that ultimately led to the Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. And yet with this milestone, Dr. King was clear that with this progress, we should not
be complacent, but use it as an opportunity to double our efforts and push further the idea that accomplishments do not mean completion, and progress cannot mean complacency. Imagine if Dr. King grew complacent after that Supreme Court ruling and had not pushed forward with advancing the Civil rights movement. His most recognized work hadn’t even happened yet. The March on Washington and his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech came three years later. So as we gather here today to reflect on Dr. King’s legacy and his words, I believe they are enduring. And we’ve made progress, but there
is still so much work to be done as we all dream a better future, and for more creative tomorrows that Dr. King eloquently espoused. You know, when I reflect on my own life, I personally feel like I’m living his dream. I was born in Cleveland. I grew up in Cleveland Heights. I went to public schools and graduated from Heights High School. And as Dr. Mihaljevic mentioned, the Cleveland Clinic was a part of my life as well. My mother worked here at the clinic in the Children’s Rehab Hospital for 30 years, and she worked in a
variety of administrative roles, wore a lot of different hats. She would adapt equipment for children with special needs. She helped with scheduling and even answered the phones at the main reception desk. In fact, when school got out, I would come home and call the front desk and I was pretty sure that my mom was gonna answer and I’d be able to check in with her. I also volunteered at the the Clinic when I was a child, and I’ve been fortunate to go on and have a great education and build a career in technology. And I
feel that my life is one of the outcomes of all the sacrifices and contributions that people like Dr. King and so many others have made over the course of history. I also think about how the work I do today both helps and can help carry on the legacy of Dr. King. The work that we do in technology, I fundamentally believe, can be a force for economic inclusion. It’s certainly one of my goals and one that many of us at Microsoft all share, and it’s great to hear Dr. Mihaljevic share some of the work that the
Cleveland Clinic is doing to drive inclusion and equity, not only at the Clinic itself, but in the broader community. But we all have to commit to this work with urgency because we are living through times of historic, economic, societal, and geopolitical change. At the same time, we are in a technological era with the potential to power incredible advancements across our economy and society. Those forces create a unique intersection of opportunity as well as responsibility from technology fundamentals to future technology. Economic growth has to be inclusive for every person, organization, community, and country. But the gaps
between racial groups are wide, and they exist across industries from tech to healthcare. Unbalanced access to healthcare exacerbates inequities, and economic opportunity. Technology can play an important role in responding to health crisis however, by advancing research and improving access to care for traditionally marginalized communities. Unfortunately, in many communities, including those like the city of Cleveland, the path to economic inclusion through technology starts with the very basic fundamentals like access to good internet connectivity, and something as basic as a reliable device. Now, increasingly, broadband internet and accessible technology must be considered fundamental rights in our society.
Without them, people lack access to education, healthcare, jobs, and essential services. And risk being left behind in today’s digital world. And when you look at the United States, Microsoft data indicates that there are as many as 120 million people who do not use internet at broadband speeds, either because it’s not available or they can’t afford it. 25 million people do not have access at all. This problem is particularly acute in black and Latinx communities and cities where broadband infrastructure largely exists, but the connection and devices to utilize it are unaffordable. In Cuyahoga County, 21% of
the population doesn’t have internet subscription or access to broadband of any kind. In fact, the city of Cleveland is ranked number two in the country for greatest need in terms of broadband adoption. Now, instead of simply lamenting these facts, we are taking action. We’re doing some of this through Microsoft’s airband initiative where we are working with public and private stakeholders to close the digital divide so that people have access to economic opportunity. Since 2017, we’ve helped more than 50 million people in unserved rural communities globally gain access to affordable broadband. In 2021, we expanded our
work to eight U.S. cities and five states with significant broadband adoption gaps as part of our commitment to address racial inequity. This includes the city of Cleveland where we partner with organizations like PCs for People and DigitalC to bring affordable internet access to 25,000 income insecure residents. And we’ve also distributed over 2000 refurbished devices through our work with PCs for People. And there is much more work to be done because good connectivity and access to devices are paramount to inclusive economic growth. But with that is the backdrop. I wanna spend a little bit of time
talking about some emerging technologies that are shaping our future and that can have tremendous impact across industries in ways that Dr. King probably would never have imagined. And one of those technologies is artificial intelligence, or ‘AI,’ for short. Now, I believe that AI is a defining technology of our time, and I’m really optimistic about what AI can do for people, for industry and society, both now as well as in the future. And this is going to happen in ways we are already seeing, and in many ways we cannot yet imagine. Now, don’t worry, I’m not
gonna get too technical in how AI works, but fundamentally, AI is the capability of a machine to perceive, to learn, to reason, to extend the abilities of people and organizations. It’s a set of tools and approaches designed to augment our own capability. AI will help empower us to solve the most pressing problems of our society and our economy. And it’s important that we build in inclusion from the start, or unfortunately, we risk even greater disparity across races and economic classes. For example, in healthcare and life sciences, this is an industry that’s already seeing significant developments
and opportunities as a result of AI. The impact of AI has the potential to reshape how we think about modern medicine, healthcare, and life science. It spans everything from genomic testing to bio manufacturing, drug discovery, and the workflow and automation processes that we all rely on. And we’re already seeing this in action today. In fact, one of the most prominent examples is really the expedited COVID vaccine development that we saw during the pandemic. Now, from startups to big businesses, many are developing AI technologies that can detect and diagnose diseases early when they’re easier and more
cheap to treat. And before these diseases can have impacts that reduce quality of life or lifespan itself. So what could something like this look like today in helping us address gaps in racial equity in healthcare? The reality is it takes a lot of time and resources to do medical research, and that requires prioritization. It means that some ailments that get less attention than others often leave families feeling alone and helpless. Sickle cell disease is one example of this. It’s one of the most common genetic diseases in the world. It affects over a hundred thousand Americans
a year, and disproportionately affects people in the black community. Now, black people diagnosed with sickle cell are more susceptible to other health complications. For instance, the rate of stroke is three times higher in black adults with sickle cell than those without. Now, I’m not a physician or a researcher, but when I start to think about the power of large data sets and AI together, I can see a world where we’re entering a new frontier of disease diagnosis and treatment discovery. You can see a world where AI can help identify patterns and trends that could help
researchers as well as policy makers better understand the issues and develop targeted solutions to a problem like sickle cell disease. You can see a world where we will be able to create more cost-effective, and more quickly, screen communities that suffer from unique issues like sickle cell trait and provide treatments that might not otherwise be available. The potential here is massive, and I especially appreciate the organizations that are coming together with a common goal to drive positive impact. Last year, for example, Microsoft announced a coalition that Cleveland Clinic is a part of called the Artificial Intelligence
Industry Innovation Coalition. It brings together leaders across healthcare, academia, and technology focused on transforming the healthcare journey through responsible AI adoption. This is just one area where the Cleveland Clinic’s leadership is helping to drive innovation in healthcare. And that brings me back to where I started because technology is an essential part of our lives, both today as well as increasingly in the future. And we must leverage it for inclusive economic growth. And as I transition to close, I thought it would be interesting if I asked the AI model GPT-3 to help me write a speech
about Dr. King. And I thought I’d share with you. I’ll read to you what it created. “Today we celebrate the life and work of one of the most influential and important figures in American history. Dr. King was a man of great vision and courage, and his work helped to shape the course of our nation. He fought for equality and justice for all, and his dream of an America where people are judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character is one that we all share. Let us honor his memory
by continuing to work towards his dream, and by always striving to treat others with kindness, compassion, and respect.” Now, that’s pretty well said for computer generated AI content. Now, I have two daughters in elementary school, and I often think about the future that awaits them, not only as it pertains to emerging technologies like AI, but also as it relates to our continued journey around racial equity. Because as parents, we all dream for a better future for our children. Dr. King had four children, and a few years ago, I had the honor and privilege of talking
with one of his daughters, Dr. Bernice King. She and her siblings continue to carry on their father’s work through the King Center, and she would be one of the first people to tell you that accomplishments don’t mean completion, and that we must push forward. We must hold hope for a better future and take action because we all play a role in creating the communities and the world that we wanna live in. So I wanna say thank you to this community and for the opportunity today to honor Dr. King along with all of you. Thank you,
Chris. Your insights and vision of leadership are inspiring. May Dr. King continue to inspire each of us to live with a sense of urgency, to serve others and to hold ourselves accountable. Living not in silence, but speaking up and taking action to make this a better and more equitable world, even in the smallest ways. As Dr. King is also known to have said, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you do not see the whole staircase.” I thank you all for joining us today. We close our program with a beloved gospel song by the
group Elégie as they perform “Wade in the Water.” ♪ You know my God is going to trouble ♪ ♪ The water ♪ ♪ Come on and ♪ ♪ Wade in the water ♪ ♪ Wade in the water children ♪ ♪ Wade in the water ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ And then we’ll wade in the water ♪ ♪ Wade in the water children ♪ ♪ Wade in the water ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ You know I stepped in the water ♪ ♪ And the water was cold, yeah ♪
♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ It chilled my body but not my soul ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ And then we’ll wade in the water ♪ ♪ Wade in the water children ♪ ♪ Wade in the water ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ If you don’t believe I’ve been redeemed ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ They finally got to the Jordan stream ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ And then we’ll wade in the water ♪ ♪ Wade in the water children
♪ ♪ Wade in the water ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ You know the devil is a man ♪ ♪ But I don’t play ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ You know he missed a soul that he thought he had ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ Come on children wade in the water ♪ ♪ Wade in the water children ♪ ♪ Wade in the water ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ (Vocalization) ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the
water ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪ ♪ And then we’ll wade ♪ ♪ God’s a-gonna trouble the water ♪
