WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Prominent national Black leaders and experts in business and public policy announced today the formation of the “Economic Justice and Infrastructure” (EJI) initiative, a cross-cutting business and policy platform to help local communities reap the benefits of the digital infrastructure revolution. EJI will initially focus its strategic outreach in eight states: Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Ohio, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, and Texas.

EJI is being formed as the nation enters a period of industrial transformation driven by artificial intelligence, data center and infrastructure construction, grid modernization, advanced manufacturing, increased domestic energy production, and workforce development.

In effect, EJI will act as an operating system that serves the interests of industry while expanding the economic capacity of the communities in which industry operates. Its members’ expertise can help connect businesses with local governments, stakeholders, and educational institutions to ensure that the benefits from this historic change are shared widely and sustainably in communities that accept it.

“We are living in a new industrial revolution, prompted by artificial intelligence (AI), and as with previous economic transformations, this one is producing a wave of innovation, new jobs and higher wages, technological breakthroughs, and infrastructure improvements in local communities,” said Ja’Ron Smith, EJI’s executive director. “But these outcomes are being obscured by misinformation and political conflict, leading some communities to pass up this historic opportunity. EJI has the connections and expertise to get past the noise and put all the pieces together so that communities that choose to be part of this buildout grow stronger and faster for the benefit of current and future generations.”

For hyperscalers, technology developers, utility providers, and capital partners, EJI offers a framework for managing infrastructure readiness, stakeholder alignment, workforce development, community engagement, and implementation challenges. For communities, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), other educational institutions, workforce organizations, and local enterprises, EJI establishes pathways to meaningful participation in the economic opportunities associated with major infrastructure investment.

“EJI’s vision,” Smith continued, “is to establish a coordinated, scalable operating framework that connects infrastructure investment with economic participation, institutional capacity, and measurable results. It is designed to create value on both sides of the infrastructure equation.”

Ja’Ron Smith is a senior partner with CGCN Group. He served in the Trump White House from 2017 to 2020, including as special assistant and deputy assistant to the president and in senior policy and leadership roles in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.

EJI’s board of directors includes:

• Michael Catanzaro (Co-chair, Senior Advisor), CEO of CGCN Group and a nationally recognized energy and environmental policy expert who served in senior policy roles in the White House National Economic Council and the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
• Jimmie Coleman (Co-chair, Senior Advisor), a nationally recognized minority business leader in artificial intelligence and founder, CEO, and president of AEOD Technologies and Total Management Experts.

Please find a link to the EJI website here: https://economicjusticeinitiative.org

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SOURCE EJI Initiative