PBN Diversity and Inclusion Awards 2021
Financial Services: Bank of America Corp.
Kevin P. Tracy, president of Bank of America Corp.’s Rhode Island market, says there are reasons why the financial institution’s management team is more diverse in gender, ethnicity and race than ever before.
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“Under CEO and Chairman Brian Moynihan, we’ve recognized that being a diverse and inclusive organization is a key driver to the success of Bank of America – it’s just not about what’s right; it’s what’s good for business,” Tracy said. “We have a strong culture of diversity and inclusion [that leads to] greater innovation, more employee engagement and productivity, and bottom-line benefits.
“We mirror the people we serve. Half of our global workforce is female, and our national workforce is 19% Latino, 14% is Black or African American, and 13% is Asian or of Asian descent.”
Bank of America’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Council, which Moynihan leads, oversees 11 “employee networks,” which have more than 330 chapters worldwide and include more than 200,000 members. Engaging and supporting Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Black and LGBTQ employees, as well as employees who are parents, veterans or disabled, the networks sponsor diversity-themed educational programs and communications.
The bank’s Courageous Conversations initiative invites employees to share their stories.
“It takes courage to share your story with the broad community, [and] employees who have done so have thanked us for giving them the platform,” said Terri Monjar, senior commercial banking relationship manager based in Rhode Island. “The feedback has been tremendous. People have appreciated that the topics being discussed relate to current events and controversial situations.”
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month held between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, four Hispanic employees with diverse histories shared the monthlong celebration’s significance, and their respective experiences of how education, family support and mentorship contributed to their success.
‘We mirror the people we serve.’
KEVIN P. TRACY, Bank of America Corp. Rhode Island market president
Diversity recruitment efforts at Bank of America include hiring 10,000 people from low- and moderate-income communities; collaborating through the OneTen coalition to create 1 million jobs for Black Americans over the next 10 years; and joining the Business Roundtable’s initiative to reform hiring and talent management practices. Bank of America is the only financial services company on the Billion Dollar Roundtable, a nonprofit initiative that recognizes companies that have spent at least $1 billion with women- and minority-owned businesses.
The bank’s workplace initiatives have earned recent recognitions from such publications as Fortune, Working Mother, People and Black Enterprise, among others.
Since 2016, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation has distributed $7.6 million to nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island that advance such things as racial and economic equality and help address COVID-19 needs. That distribution includes $1.5 million to 49 grantees so far in 2021, for basic needs, workforce development, community development, and arts and culture.
Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders nationwide program has invested more than $280 million in 50 communities and partnered with more than 1,400 nonprofit organizations since 2004. The bank has named 23 nonprofits in Rhode Island as Neighborhood Builders and invested $4.6 million into organizations.
In 2021, Neighborhood Builders, Crossroads Rhode Island and Sojourner House each received a $200,000 grant and comprehensive leadership training for two senior executives.
As a global financial services leader, Bank of America regularly tracks metrics. Those metrics include the percentage of the U.S-based senior management team and the U.S.-based workforce representing people of color (20% and 48%, respectively); the more than 165,000 employees engaging in Courageous Conversations in the first half of 2021 alone; and the increase of women being hired from college and university campuses since 2009 (41%).
Beginning in 2020, the bank committed to investing globally $1.25 billion over five years aimed at supporting jobs, health care, housing and businesses. Given that, Tracy said, “One of the areas where we’d like to have more focus is in supporting minority businesses in our market. We’re trying to do something with Rhode Island’s share of the American Rescue Plan Act funds by partnering with organizations supporting small businesses. We have an opportunity to execute on improving opportunity locally in the coming years.”
Calling Bank of America’s track record on diversity and inclusion over the last decade “good for business,” Tracy said, “We’re hitting on all cylinders, serving all clients, having productive employees, being efficient and providing a lot more financial support to communities we serve.”
