Magic Johnson just teamed up with Cigna to tackle the effects of the global pandemic on LatinX, Black, and woman-owned businesses.
According to the LA Sentinel, the basketball legend and president of the U.S. Commercial Business at Cigna, Mike Triplett will lead the conversation on the effects of the pandemic through a roundtable discussion. The collaboration for change seeks to make a ripple effect across the county and eventually the nation.
Johnson shares there should be no surprise when it comes to the major differences in impact among ethnicities.
“We lost 41% of the members of Black business owners since the pandemic, and 32% decline in Hispanic businesses and then [a] 25% decline in women-owned businesses,” said Johnson. “It’s so important that we first try to keep the doors open for women-owned, Black-owned, and Hispanic-owned businesses.”
Cigna’s Triplett also shared his thoughts on the mission of his organization.
“As a global health service company, Cigna’s mission is to improve the health, well-being, and peace of mind of those we serve by making health care simple, affordable, and predictable,” Triplett said.
Per Cigna’s press release, Triplett states:
“Health is wealth; and for many minority and women-owned businesses, the key to economic prosperity is to ensure they have and maintain a healthy and vibrant workforce. Today’s intersection of health, economic and racial crises motivated us to take definitive action to partner with these small and mid-size businesses by improving the health and productivity of their workforce – many of whom are from underserved communities. We are excited to team up with the legendary Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson to bring our new initiative to the market.”
The community-driven series of customized health programs created by Magic Johnson Enterprises and Cigna were launched for businesses in Los Angeles. They were created to help build a better foundation for everyone involved as well as to implant a stake of equality within each compound of the community.
