ALUMNI NEWS
“The best successes that I have had in my career are a result of me taking assignments that others shied away from. They viewed them as being risky
dation President and Chairman of the Board Brother Michael J. Dubose. His leadership in healthcare and in his com- munity is making a material difference, and he is leading the way for people from diverse backgrounds to rise and take their place in the evolving healthcare industry. We are proud of his accomplishments and his service as an active member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation Board of Directors!” “My personal goal is to help build long- term sustainability for the Foundation to benefit for generations to come,” Hayes said. “I want to take the years of experi- ence that I’ve been fortunate enough to gain throughout my career and help advance the mission and objectives of the Foundation by providing that advice, counsel, and governance, to help the Foundation be the best that it can be.” That advice and counsel includes guid- ance that Hayes follows to this day... “keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground.” The phrase speaks to the value of having a strategic view while at the same time being an operator where you’re delivering on your commitments to your customers and stakeholders. The best advice he’s ever given? To be authen- tic. He also offers the following advice to undergraduates entering their profes- sional careers: • Have a “maniacal focus” on manag- ing your own career. Do not out- source the management of your career to somebody else. • Set specific goals with a specific plan to achieve those goals. • Play chess, not checkers, with your
And yet, when asked about the difficulty that may have come with dealing with such a trifecta as a CEO who is Black, Hayes believes that his background has offered him a competitive advantage relative to some of his counterparts. “Oftentimes, when I walk into a room, I have a perspective that no one else has. Stuff that I have experienced; it can add value.” Through his unique perspective, he can speak authentically about the prevailing issues impacting our country, including the health inequities that were exposed as a result of the pandemic and the economic crisis and the wealth dis- parities highlighted by the unfairly high unemployment rates of people of color. It’s his firm belief that a person ends up in the right place at the right time for the right reasons, and that was the case for him when he took the helm at Gate- way Health: “It gave me an opportunity to help people, my peers in particular, understand what solutions would be re- quired to make this time different…and I think that was one of the silver linings to come out of last year.” One of those “silver linings” Hayes’s team was able to accomplish was a new DEI initiative, the Gateway Health Ra- cial Equity Playbook. The Playbook lists 10 specific commitments and actions that the organization created to help foster and support racial equality within their company and in the community. “Prior to 2020, the situation would unfold as follows: racially motivated in- cidents would happen, companies would issue a statement, pull out the check- book, write a check to organizations that fight racial injustice, and then that would be it. Then they wait until the next incident happened, and then do the same thing. I think organizations have learned that the old playbooks no longer work because we keep finding ourselves in the same situation,” he said. The Gateway Health Racial Equity Play- book embodies time-bound, measurable goals that allow individuals and teams
and I embraced them. That has served me well throughout my career.”
to track their progress. It has come to serve as a model for other companies to follow. From what he has seen thus far, Hayes is optimistic that this time will be different as he observes actions that companies and organizations are taking to drive towards real change. Hayes was initiated into Pittsburgh (PA) Alumni on June 12, 1993. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation, he was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for DocuSign, Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. For Hayes, lending his experience and counsel through his Board service is rewarding and, in the words of the late Vernon Jordan, “expanding his footprint” and impacting others. “The Foundation Board of Directors are proud of Director Brother Cain Hayes on his rise as one of the few CEOs of color in Corporate America,” said Foun-
career moves; think two or three moves ahead to achieve your ulti- mate goals.
• Take calculated risks.
“The best successes that I have had in my career are a result of me taking assign- ments that others shied away from,” said Hayes. “They viewed them as being risky and I embraced them. That has served me well throughout my career.”
THE JOURNAL ♦ SPRING 2021 | 47
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