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‘Consumers want to vote with their dollars’: Miriam Warren on consumers shifting to supporting diverse businesses

Nearly a thousand business leaders signed an open letter and pledged $10 million to support efforts to end violence against Asian Americans. Miriam Warren, Chief Diversity Officer at Yelp, joins Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers and Sibile Marcellus to discuss the details of that letter, Yelp’s and Gold House’s new partnership to support Asian-owned businesses, and tangible steps being taken by leadership and consumers to support minority-owned businesses.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

SIBILE MARCELLUS: Welcome back to "A Time for Change." Enough is enough. That's how Asian-American business leaders feel about the rise of hate in America. They joined together and co-signed an open letter and pledged $10 million to support efforts to end violence against Asian-Americans.

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KRISTIN MYERS: Now, in the open letter, they say, we are tired, angry, and afraid. Enough is enough. Stand with us.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: Joining us now is a business leader who signed this open letter, Miriam Warren, chief diversity officer for Yelp. Now, Miriam, why was it so important for you to participate in this and also sign this open letter?

MIRIAM WARREN: You know, it was really important for me because as a chief diversity officer, as a person who's thinking about issues of racial equity in America every single day, I knew that not only have I had many opportunities to stand up for lots of other communities, I also needed to stand up for my own community. It's a community that's faced so much hate in the last year in particular, but has also had many of the racial issues related to this community swept under the rug for centuries. And now is a time that many people are becoming aware of these issues. And it was a real honor to be able to sign with so many other corporate leaders that are Asian and also allies.

KRISTIN MYERS: Now, Miriam, as we were just saying in that introduction, the letter calls for people to stand with the Asian-American community. What does that really look like in practice? Or what should it look like?

MIRIAM WARREN: You know, I think it looks like a lot of different things. But to begin, it looks like education. So for folks who aren't already aware of the history of Asians in America, that's a great place to start. The Chinese Exclusion Act, something that came about in the 1800s, related very much to mining and other industrial practices happening, particularly on the west coast of the US, is something that people can start to understand. The more you know about the history of Asians in America, the more you understand that they are not a monolith. They are-- this community is composed of so many different nationalities and ethnicities, so many different languages and religions. Understanding that educational peace is a great step forward in standing with this community.

An additional step is supporting organizations that support Asian-Americans. There are a number of different non-profit organizations listed in the letter, which are-- which is a big place where a lot of the money that was raised with this letter will go. And I think that is a really important piece. And then, you know, another place to go is also Asian-owned businesses. There has been more than a 3,000% increase year to year on Yelp of searches by and for Asian-owned businesses.

And just seeing that interest in people wanting to know about where these businesses are, wanting to vote with their pocketbooks, wanting to really support these businesses, I think, is incredibly important. And it's something that we know consumers want. And it's something that we're proud to be able to share this information with folks.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: And Miriam, I know that you have a recent partnership with Gold House, so I'm going to ask you to talk about that. But also, you recently honored some of the most successful Asian-Americans. And yourself, you're included on that list. Also, Vice President Kamala Harris. What are expectations for people who have made it in terms of helping others in the community?

MIRIAM WARREN: You know, when Yelp partnered with Gold House to launch the Asian-owned attribute on the site, we really knew that this was a pivotal moment for the Asian-American community for a number of different reasons. One, we know that the Asian-American community, like so many other communities of color, suffer from a lack of representation in media, in corporate leadership, in so many other sectors.

And I think one of the big things that we can all do as Asian leaders who have attained a level of success is to use our voices, to use our platforms, and to use our resources to help our community members, and also to help others who are still moving up the ladder to get to the top as well. As we know, Asian-Americans are the group least likely to be promoted into leadership. And one of the main ways that we can help as Asian-Americans already in leadership is to mentor and sponsor those who are coming behind us.

KRISTIN MYERS: So diving a little bit more deeply into that, Miriam, because as we were talking about a little bit ago, a new nonprofit being created for $250 million, you're a part of this letter pledging $10 million, what can that money be used to create in terms of tangible solutions moving forward? I know you were saying in terms of sponsoring and making sure you're mentoring and helping those behind you, but what other tangible steps and solutions should we expect?

MIRIAM WARREN: What I'm really excited about with the creation of the Asian-American Foundation is that there is a focus on both education and data. Education I think is incredibly important because from K to 12, all the way through college ethnic studies programs, it's really important that all of us and our children and their friends understand what the history of Asians in America is all about. One of the things that the Asian-American community faces on a daily basis is a perpetual sense of being foreign, even if you've been here for generations upon generations. And education can really help to combat that perpetual sense of foreignness.

I think data is also really key. One of the things that I read recently is that although Asian-Americans make up almost 6% of the US population, they receive only 1% of nonprofit donations, sort of put towards this community. And so one of the things that the Asian-American foundation can do is really start to find more data about this community that currently doesn't exist. And a key item here is disaggregation of Asian-American data.

The Asian-American community is not a monolith. It's made up of many, many different communities that are facing a lot of economic strife, but that is often sort of not seen because we only see this as one community, but, in fact, it is many different communities. And more research and resources put towards that disaggregation of Asian-American data, I think can really help the community overall and can, frankly, be something that helps Americans understand Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders better.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: And I want to focus in a little bit more on Yelp specifically. So how have you seen consumers react to the rise in violence against Asian-Americans? Have you seen it have an impact in terms of which businesses they now choose to deal with?

MIRIAM WARREN: One of the things we're definitely seeing-- and we've seen this over the years, but definitely more pronounced in the last year-- is that consumers really want to vote with their dollars. They want to support women-owned businesses. They want to support Black-owned businesses. And particularly in the wake of such increase in violence against Asian-Americans, they want to support Asian-American businesses. And they're increasingly turning to Yelp to find those businesses. And they are also increasingly asking Yelp to do more to help them find those businesses.

And so, a number of the things that we're able to do in our partnership with Gold House is to get the word out there about Asian-owned businesses that are open for business that want to serve consumers. And I think it's having a really incredible impact on those businesses. And it's also helping consumers to feel good about where they're spending their money.

KRISTIN MYERS: Miriam, really quickly, I want to ask you about that. You were talking about the trend from some of those consumers. Is there anything indicated, at least in the data, that some of these trends, at least in the consumers, seeking out more diverse businesses, wanting to spend their money at some of these diverse businesses, that that is a permanent or perhaps lasting change?

MIRIAM WARREN: It definitely seems that way for us. Obviously, we are putting consumers towards women-owned businesses, Black-owned businesses, Latinx-owned businesses, and now, most recently, Asian-owned businesses. And we continue to see that rise in trends of people really making these searches because, again, they want to really vote with their dollars. They really want to patronize businesses that are consistent with their values. And I don't think that that's something that's going away or that's simply about a moment. I think this is definitely a movement and something that we will continue to see, particularly among younger customers, but I think also across the board.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: Well, we'll definitely keep an eye on that. Miriam Warren, thanks so much.