Fordham trustee Valerie Irick Rainford, FCRH ’86, and Patricia David, GABELLI ’81, are among the eight executives in the magazine’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Hall of Fame Class of 2023.

In her “Last Word” column in the winter 2023 issue of the magazine, Sheila A. Robinson, the founder Diversity Woman Media, noted that Rainford, David, and the other honorees “began this work before there even were titles like chief diversity officer.”

“While we still have a long way to go and much work to do, now is the time to salute those women and men on the front lines who have made a difference. … They paved the way for the rest of us,” Robinson wrote, “and their tireless work in the trenches of the battle for equity, inclusion, and belonging is why I feel optimistic for the next generation.”

A ‘Pay-It-Forward Commitment’ to Elevating People

David, who was born in England and grew up in the Bronx, graduated from Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics and a minor in accounting. She capped a decades-long corporate career at JPMorgan Chase, where she served as the chief diversity officer and was instrumental in launching the company’s Advancing Black Leaders strategy and its Office of Disability Inclusion, which she described as her proudest achievement.

“Disability can and will affect everyone,” she told Inclusion magazine. “Raising awareness, busting the myths, and being intentional about this community was personally refreshing to me.”

The magazine also noted David’s “pay-it-forward commitment” to supporting students at Fordham, where she has “led large-group diversity education sessions for first-year students” at the Gabelli School of Business and supported a high-school pipeline program to help bring more students of color to Fordham.

In 2016, she received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Fordham and delivered the keynote address at the Gabelli School of Business graduate diploma ceremony. One year earlier, the Gabelli School paid tribute to her by creating the Patricia David Trailblazer Award, presented annually to a graduating senior who has demonstrated a dedication to inclusiveness in the business world.

Since retiring from JPMorgan Chase in 2018, David has been working as a mentor, coach, and consultant. She also recently published a book, The ‘Her’story of Davidisms: My Straight-Shooting Answers to 30 Years of Career Questions People Have Asked Me (Picard Press, 2021).

Challenging Assumptions, Providing Opportunities

Like David, Rainford grew up in the Bronx and eventually worked at JPMorgan Chase, where she was a managing director and led the company’s Advancing Black Leaders strategy.

“Under her leadership, representation of Black professionals rose to historic levels, with an increase in Black senior executives by over 50 percent in three years,” Inclusion magazine reported.

Prior to her tenure at JPMorgan Chase, she had a 21-year career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she was the first Black woman to rise to senior vice president. Today, as the founding CEO of Elloree Talent Strategies, she advises C-suite executives on the best strategies for advancing diverse talent.

She is also the author of an award-winning memoir, Until the Brighter Tomorrow: One Woman’s Courageous Climb from the Projects to the Podium (Eloree Press, 2014), and a founding member of the Black Women for Black Girls Giving Circle. She has received numerous awards and distinctions, including recognition on Black Enterprise’s list of the Most Powerful Women in Business and on The Network Journal’s list of 25 Most Influential Women in Business.

Rainford has been a generous supporter of Fordham and its students. She joined the University’s Board of Trustees in 2019, and in early 2021, she was the driving force behind the creation of the Diversity Fund, which provides financial aid to economically disadvantaged undergraduates and those from underrepresented groups who are living on campus.

“I want my legacy—from struggle to success—to challenge long-standing assumptions and expectations for what talent from underserved communities can achieve when provided with access and opportunity,” she told Inclusion magazine.

Incoming student Kadidia Keita said she was so excited to learn she was admitted to Fordham—with a sizable scholarship. But her family still couldn’t afford the remaining tuition. She was about to decline.  

“Then Fordham sent me an email saying that I was eligible to apply for this emergency fund. I requested more money, and they really pulled through,” said Kadidia Keita, an incoming first-year psychology student who plans on commuting to Fordham College at Lincoln Center from her home in the Bronx. “My parents will have a much easier time affording this, we don’t have to take out loans, and now I can go to my dream school.”

Keita is among 14 incoming first-year students who were awarded “last-dollar” financial aid to help them attend Fordham this fall. The scholarship fund, which was created by University trustees earlier this year, aims to retain students who may not be able to attend Fordham otherwise and to encourage a diverse student body. 

The creation of the fund coincides with a large jump in the number of underrepresented first-year undergraduates arriving on campus this fall, compared to last year. The number of Black students increased from 77 to 211; the number of Latinx students increased from 337 to 528. 

“We were able to use this money to help meet the gap between the financial aid package we originally offered our students and what they needed to attend,” said Jaime Harkin, associate director of student financial services.

Individual award amounts range from $3,000 to $8,000, said Harkin. More than $60,000 has been distributed to students so far. The University is currently reviewing candidates to receive support from the fund for the upcoming academic year. 

Eileen FitzGerald Sudler, TMC ’71, a member of the Board of Trustees who made a gift to the fund, said the board is “really committed” to helping students with this scholarship money.

“Sometimes it’s a matter of a few thousand dollars. Even with a full scholarship, there are other costs involved. And there are families who cannot flip that bill—a couple of thousand dollars, whether those are for books, fees, or commuting,” said Sudler. “On an ethical and moral basis, it’s really the fiber of what Fordham was founded to do. And we’d like to see great strides in this.” 

In a phone conversation, Keita said she was initially attracted to Fordham’s psychology program, the University’s proximity to her high school in the Bronx, and the beauty of the Rose Hill campus. After speaking with trustee Valerie Irick Rainford, FCRH ’86, she said she felt more compelled to apply to Fordham. 

Coming from the South Bronx, she said, there’s a certain pressure in attending what she called a PWI, or a predominantly white institution. 

“I was very nervous about what the sense of community would be like for me. But Ms. Rainford made it so clear to me that Fordham had a really great sense of community, and that’s what hooked me even more to the school,” Keita said.

The following spring, when Keita received her acceptance letter along with a large scholarship from Fordham, her family was struggling. They were still recovering after a fire ravaged their home last year, and her father, the family breadwinner, had lost his job in March 2020 and was still looking for full-time work, she said. They couldn’t afford to pay the remaining $12,000 per year in Fordham tuition. But thanks to the Diversity Fund, which covers more than three-quarters of the remaining cost, she said she could afford to attend Fordham. 

“I’m so looking forward to making new friends of different races, cultures, and backgrounds and to participate in clubs, especially MSA [the Muslim Students Association], because I’m Muslim,” said Keita, who plans on becoming a child psychologist or therapist for minority children in her community.  

Kweku Andoh, an incoming first-year marketing student at the Gabelli School of Business, said the fund has helped him and his family, too. Andoh is originally from Washington, but he and his parents—a federal employee and a member of the U.S. Army for more than two decades—have been stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, over the past five years.

“This has been an incredibly stressful few months for my family moving back overseas from Germany, and the Diversity Fund has definitely helped to alleviate some of that stress,” Andoh wrote in an email. “I’m really looking forward to receiving a top-tier education that I know will immensely prepare me for my time after Fordham, and also becoming a part of an educational community that makes me feel welcome and will be another place for me to call home.”