Marc L. Boom, Partnership chair elect, and president and CEO of Houston Methodist, speaks during the Greater Houston Partnership annual luncheon at the Hilton Las Americas, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, in Houston.Houston's business leaders have a role to play in improving civic culture, argued Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist, at the Greater Houston Partnership's 2023 annual meeting this week.
The meeting Thursday took a philosophical turn as Boom encouraged attendees to consider their broader public responsibilities, noting that partnership members collectively represent hundreds of thousands of employees across the greater Houston region. In 2020, for example, the group launched One Houston Together, an initiative aiming to tackle racial inequity and injustice; the following year came the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, which calls on the region to spearhead an “energy-abundant, low-carbon future."
“It may seem like I’m pointing at elected officials. I’m not. I’m pointing at all of us. We have created that system,” Boom said. “But I don’t think anybody’s better positioned than business leaders to say, 'Hold on. Time out. Culture matters.'”
Cute analogy with Odysseus & the sirens, but Partnership members mostly listen to the cha-ching of easy and immediate profits.