On Feb. 12, McGill’s Equity Team, in partnership with the Desautels Faculty of Management, invited Sabaa Quao, president of PlusCo Venture Studio, to speak at a keynote event in honour of Black History Month (BHM). Preceding Quao’s speech, Yolande E. Chan—the current and first Black dean of the Faculty of Management—took the stage to offer remarks on behalf of the faculty. She brought up two notable milestones: 2026 marks McGill’s ninth official BHM and the 30th anniversary of Canada’s recognition of BHM. 

Following Chen’s opening remarks, Quao addressed the crowd. He highlighted the title of his speech, “One Step Back, Two Steps Forward,” and then transitioned into an analogy of worldbuilding and creative destruction, urging the audience to take a step back. He described how destruction is inherent to creativity and that disruption is crucial to moving forward. Nonetheless, Quao reaffirmed that taking a step back is equally important to see the progress that has already been made. 

Quao then highlighted the ‘dark side’ of stepping back, which he noted is still very powerful. 

“Right now, we’re dealing with an erosion of institutional trust,” Quao said. “We also are in a period where elections [….] Feel like each one is a kind of existential threat. How is it that something that was so consistent in terms of how we used to move forward has now become a point of tension and a point of anxiety? [….] Two things can exist at the same time. We can have a sense of progress that does coexist with unresolved justice. And you’ve taken the same step back in order to be able to recognize that something does have to change. It has to change.” 

Quao referenced a 2024 study by the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility which found that it will hypothetically take 320 years for Black people to achieve equal quality of life. 

“Everyone in this room knows in their gut that you have to reject those numbers. Not just for yourself, not just for kids, not just for your grandkids,” Quao affirmed. “Resistance to change is natural and it’s a human tendency. But at some point, […] you ignore the resistance to change. You ignore the hurdles, and you maximize the space of what you need to build [….] The survival instinct is more powerful than the resistance to change.”