The CEO Statesman

Earlier this summer, I joined a Council on Foreign Relations conversation in Washington between Jamie Dimon and CFR President Michael Froman. Ambassador Froman concluded the discussion, referring to Dimon as a “CEO statesman.” 

It was a fitting title. Dimon was there as the chairman and CEO of JPMorganChase, but the discussion extended far beyond banking. He spoke about America’s economy, the future of Europe, Ukraine, China, artificial intelligence, education, fiscal policy, and the dignity of work. He approached these subjects not as someone commenting from the sidelines, but as a business leader who believes his institution has a responsibility to help strengthen the country.

Dimon summed up the interdependence of his company and the country in one memorable line: “We stand on the shoulders of this country. If this country does not do well, nor will JPMorgan.” 

The bank’s recent work reflects that belief. Its Security and Resiliency Initiative is a $1.5 trillion, ten-year effort to finance and invest in industries essential to America’s economic and national security, including critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, shipbuilding, defense technology, energy infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. The company’s American Dream Initiative is a multi-year effort to expand economic opportunity through targeted investments, policy advocacy, and community partnerships. An initial goal is to support 10 million small businesses by providing nearly $80 billion in lending over the next decade, alongside expanded coaching, technical assistance, and resources for navigating healthcare and government contracting. The company is also targeting a $750 billion in housing development by 2035.

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorganChase and CFR Member with Ambassador Michael Froman, President of the Council on Foreign Relations | June 16, 2026

At Citi, Jane Fraser has used the bank’s capital and capabilities to advance economic inclusion, climate action, and housing. Citi’s Action for Racial Equity invested more than $1 billion to expand credit, support Black-owned businesses, and increase affordable housing and homeownership. Citi has committed to finance and facilitate $1 trillion in sustainable finance by 2030, supporting environmental solutions as well as affordable housing, healthcare, education, and economic inclusion. In 2026, Fraser announced a new $60 billion housing initiative intended to create or preserve at least 250,000 affordable homes over five years, supplemented by $50 million in philanthropic funding for organizations addressing local housing challenges.

Business leaders outside of the banking sector have also stepped up. During the COVID-19 pandemic, General Motors CEO Mary Barra mobilized the company’s factories, workers, and supply chain to help produce 30,000 ventilators in just 154 days. That partnership grew in part from Stop the Spread, a coalition organized by General Catalyst managing director Ken Chenault and former Guild CEO Rachel Romer Carlson to connect hundreds of business leaders with urgent public needs. At Accenture, Julie Sweet has championed skills-based hiring and professional apprenticeships, bringing together more than 200 companies to create pathways into professional careers for people without traditional four-year degrees. And Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya transformed his company’s experience employing refugees into the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a coalition of more than 500 companies helping displaced people find jobs, training, and economic independence.

These leaders are not treating public engagement as charity on the margins of their businesses. They are aligning their balance sheets, operational capabilities, and convening power with goals that are both good for their companies and connected to long-term economic growth for the country. Banks can finance housing and strategic industries. Manufacturers can respond to national emergencies as they have done throughout history. Technology and professional-services companies can build new pathways into the workforce. Major employers can help refugees and other excluded populations achieve economic independence. 

This leadership model is especially important now. Polarization and declining trust in institutions have weakened our capacity for collective action, while fiscal constraints, geopolitical competition, and technological disruption are increasing the scale and urgency of the challenges we face. No single sector has the resources, expertise, or legitimacy to address them alone, and businesses cannot replace the public sector nor fill all of the critical gaps often covered by civil society. But by committing the vast capabilities and resources of their companies and marshaling their peers to address public needs or crises, business leaders can champion more stable, sustainable growth for the future. 

It is equally incumbent on policymakers not to push away corporate engagement or punish civic leadership, but rather, to encourage this kind of collaboration. Government leaders should engage CEOs as partners in advancing local and national priorities and create the incentives, procurement commitments, and regulatory conditions that enable private capital to work for the public good. 

From housing to healthcare, education to employment, America’s most pressing problems will not be solved by government or business acting alone. In an era of increasingly complex, interconnected challenges, we need more CEOs willing to act like statesmen and stateswomen, and more elected leaders prepared to work with them.