Several prominent captains of industry have been invited to speak at the Annual Economic Justice Conference hosted and organized by The PuLSE Institute, Detroit’s national and non-partisan anti-poverty think tank.
The virtual poverty-themed conference will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 14 from 8:30am-12:30noon featuring solution-oriented keynote presentations and cutting-edge discussions about how to address the salient issues of poverty and inequality in urban America including Detroit, one of the nation’s largest Black cities, and one of the most impoverished in the country.
The Institute is led by distinguished Attorney Tina M. Patterson, Esq., the President and Director of Research and one of the few women leading a prominent think tank in the country.
The October meeting is The Institute’s annual racial and economic justice conference for policy makers, scholars, industry captains and community advocates working towards creating an ethical economy that guarantees equality for all.
The theme for the 2025 conference is “Fostering An Inclusive and Sustainable Economy in America: The Mandate for Effective Leadership.” The conference is being held the week of Oct. 17, which is officially United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty as part of efforts and events being held to recognize the day and to work towards addressing economic justice issues. To obtain tickets to the conference visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/henry-ford-ceo-bob-riney-joins-top-ceos-at-pulse-oct-14-conference-tickets-1711394169029?aff=oddtdtcreator
Among this year’s major business leaders who have been selected by The Institute to speak at the economic conference is Bob Riney, the President and CEO of Henry Ford Health, Jerry Norcia, the Executive Chairman of DTE Energy and Karen Harbert, the President and CEO of the American Gas Association. All three business leaders will participate in a Plenary Session to examine the Value and Impact of Effective Corporate Citizenship.
“Economic justice is not a distant ideal, but rather something we can actively shape through the way we lead, the partnerships we build, and the commitments we make to our communities. At Henry Ford Health, we see firsthand how economic opportunity and health are deeply connected,” said Bob Riney, President and CEO of Henry Ford Health. “I’m honored to join this important conversation with The PuLSE Institute, alongside leaders with a shared belief in the power of corporate citizenship, to help inspire action toward creating a future where everyone has the chance to thrive.”
Riney, who was appointed CEO of Henry Ford Health in 2022, has been instrumental in spearheading some of Henry Ford Health’s most ambitious projects to date. His leadership is central to the groundbreaking joint venture with Ascension Michigan, which unites the two major health systems to enhance care delivery across the region. This joint venture has taken Henry Ford Health from five to 13 hospitals; approximately 33,000 to 50,000 team members; and 250 to 550+ sites of care, while expanding access to advanced clinical care and cutting-edge research for communities throughout Michigan and beyond.
Bob’s leadership has also been key to the Destination: Grand project, a complete re-imagination of Henry Ford Health’s Detroit campus that will include a new 20-story, 1.2M sq. ft. hospital tower with all private rooms for patients, a new Emergency Department more than double the size of the existing one, 28 operating rooms, and its own Central Energy Hub, making it one of the largest fully electric-capable hospitals in the country. This development is not only about improving healthcare infrastructure; it’s about reshaping the future of health for the city and region. Destination: Grand will serve as a beacon of medical innovation and a cornerstone for Detroit’s revitalization, creating lasting positive impacts for decades to come.
Before becoming CEO in 2022, Bob held numerous Henry Ford Health leadership positions including: President, Healthcare Operations and Chief Operating Officer (2017 – 2022); Chief Operating Officer (2003-2022); Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer (2002–2003); and Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (2000–2002).
At the core of this year’s conference is the need for business leaders to address poverty and economic inequality beyond their respected companies.
“As leaders, our responsibility is to not only drive success in our own organizations, but create prosperity for the people and communities around us,” said DTE Executive Chairman Jerry Norcia. “To achieve DTE’s goal of building a cleaner, smarter electric grid while keeping energy affordable, we are prioritizing partnerships with local suppliers and creating opportunities for Michigan residents to learn in-demand skills that enable them to break the cycle of poverty. I greatly appreciate The PuLSE Institute for bringing us together for this important conversation.”
Norcia served as chief executive officer of DTE from July 2019 to September 2025. Prior to being named CEO in 2019 and board chair in 2022, Norcia served as president and chief operating officer of DTE, responsible for strategic oversight and operations of the electric and gas utilities and the two large non-utility businesses. He has also served as president of DTE Gas and DTE Electric. Norcia joined the company in 2002 as president of the Gas Storage and Pipelines business.
Before joining DTE, Norcia was vice president of business development for Union Gas. He has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry, where he worked in executive leadership roles, business development, engineering and operations. As a board member of the American Gas Association, Edison Electric Institute, Nuclear Energy Institute and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, Norcia helps to shape the future of the energy industry.
The conference will underscore the importance of tackling issues that are at the core of structural inequalities in underserved communities.
“As regulated utilities providing affordable, life-sustaining energy to our communities, responsible corporate citizenship is the foundation on which our industry is built,” said Karen Harbert, President and CEO of the American Gas Association. “AGA’s member companies and their employees are an integral part of the communities they serve. Our industry has a mission: to keep our neighbors comfortable and safe year-round while providing the five percent of the American economy that makes the other 95 percent possible. I look forward to speaking further on the importance of corporate citizenship to this mission and our commitment to the communities we serve at The PuLSE Institute Conference.”
Harbert, leads AGA, which was founded in 1918 and represents more than 200 local energy utility companies that deliver natural gas to 189 million Americans and 5.8 million businesses in all 50 states.
Prior to joining AGA, she was president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute (Energy Institute). Under Harbert’s leadership, the Energy Institute evolved into a premier national and international organization dedicated to advancing a constructive energy agenda with the business community, policymakers and consumers. Harbert is the former assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). She was the primary policy adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and to the department on domestic and international energy issues.
“Breaking down barriers and championing meaningful opportunities have been the heartbeat of our work at The PuLSE Institute. That’s why I am quite pleased that our October conference will afford valued stakeholders yet another opportunity to consciously raise their voices in examining and enhancing multisectoral ideas, policies and programs that prioritize people, and foster inclusive partnerships that help to address some difficult issues confronting workers, entrepreneurs, and underserved neighborhoods and communities,” said Dr. C. Paschal Eze, Chairman of the Board of The PuLSE Institute.
Bankole Thompson , the nationally renowned journalist and a standard-bearer for racial and economic justice issues, whose longstanding and influential work on race, democracy and poverty led to the founding of The PuLSE Institute, said the conference is a venue to discuss economic sustainability in way that addresses the systemic inequities that are glaring in underserved communities.
“It is important that the conference doesn’t ignore the work that needs to be done by those who hold the levers of economic power in society,” said Thompson, the founder and dean of The Institute. “Economic justice must be viewed as a mandate not as a charitable gesture in the corporate boardroom. That is what makes The Institute’s conference unique because of its convening power to assemble some of the most influential voices in corporate America to level set with the issues of income inequality that are reverberating all across diverse communities and especially in a city like Detroit.”
Thompson has had a front-row seat to Detroit and national urban issues for a longtime as a critically acclaimed journalistic thought leader and culture critic. He is considered one of the most preeminent voices of courage and conscience in the media in the modern era. He is one of the first top Black editors to conduct series of exclusive sit-down interviews with President Barack Obama. Thompson is a twice-a-week opinion columnist at The Detroit News, where his column appears on Mondays and Thursdays. He writes about public leadership, socioeconomic and cultural issues. A member of the National Press Club of Washington D.C., where he’s convened major forums on national issues, he is the host of the podcast, Bankole’s Nation . His latest book, Fiery Conscience, about his decades of speaking truth to power and lays out a blueprint for bold and effective leadership, was released in August of 2023 and received a definitive review by Forbes.
“The call of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for us to answer the burning question of economic justice in this age means that men and women of conscience cannot sit on the sidelines in the unrelenting push for equality,” said Thompson, whose work has been praised by civil rights leaders including Rev. Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr., one of Dr. King’s most trusted lieutenants and the National Coordinator of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign during the Civil Rights Movement.
Thompson added, “I have the audaciousness to believe that CEOs can create a dignified and an ethical economy where the emphasis is on preserving human dignity. That captains of industries are not pushing the machine of marginalization and cruel indifference in cities like Detroit and beyond. Instead, we are justly rewarding each individual for their contributions to society and that economic development benefits those who enable companies to thrive.”
The Institute’s high-profile speaker platform over the years has attracted significant public officials and prominent business leaders who have appeared before the organization to discuss important issues. For instance, previous speakers include United Nations Under-Secretary General Dr. Natalia Kanem, former U.S. ambassador to the European Union Anne Derse, Erwin Chemerinsky, the Dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, leading African American minister and civil rights activist Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes III, Dr. Julius Garvey, the last remaining son of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, United States Federal Bankruptcy Judge Mark Randon, Gary Torgow, Chairman of Huntington National Bank, Cindy Pasky, the founder and CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions, Tricia Keith, the President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan among others.
The Institute has a National Advisory Board, made up of national and international luminaries who believe in the mission of the organization and collectively bring more than a century of anti-poverty work and championing equitable policies. They include Sister Simone Campbell, leading social justice voice in the American Catholic Church, who received the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom, Rev. Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr., veteran civil rights leader, and one of the last remaining top lieutenants of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Luba Lukova, internationally celebrated visual artist, Charles E. Blake Sr., Presiding Bishop Emeritus of the Church of God in Christ, the late Dr. Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Janis Kearney, former presidential diarist under President Bill Clinton and other leaders.
More speakers about next month’s conference will be announced in the days and registration for the conference will be made available soon. For inquiries email info@thepulseinstitute.org.
