Commitment to Latinas
in Corporate America
By Gloria Romano-Barrera
Employee Resource Groups, leadership and development programs, and partnering
with Hispanic organizations throughout the country are a few examples of ways to help build
a pipeline of talented Latina executives. The corporate companies listed - Bank of America,
Accenture, and New York Life - are only a few of the many companies hiring, nurturing, and
retaining talent so they can reach the executive ranks.
Bank of America’s commitment to diversity starts at the top with its
Board of Directors, including a Latina Board member, Monica Lozano,
and Chairman & CEO Brian Moynihan. The bank’s management team
sets the Diversity & Inclusion goals of the company. Each management team
member has action-oriented diversity targets. These targets are subject to the
company’s quarterly business review process, used as part of talent planning
and included in scorecards reviewed by the Board of Directors. Bank of America
has built robust analytics and put processes in place at all levels of the
company to drive progress and accountability to ensure the company is a
reflection of the diverse communities it serves.
In addition, Bank of America’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Council – which
is led by Moynihan – promotes diversity goal setting, which is embedded in the
company’s performance management process and occurs at all levels of the
company.
Bank of America is committed to building a strong, diverse talent pipeline
of future leaders. Through recruitment efforts and partnerships, Bank of
America is attracting some of the best and most diverse talent from around the
world.
The bank’s robust talent planning program identifies key leaders and
roles, and works to develop and prepare leaders for upcoming business needs.
Given the diverse, global nature of its business and their customers, diversity
is a key factor in the talent planning process.
Bank of America offers a range of development programs for women and
diverse employees and developing leaders, some of which include:
- Women’s Executive Development Program: Leverages the faculty of
Columbia Business School and high-caliber speakers to engage, develop,
retain and support the career advancement of high potential talent. The
program includes assessments, virtual development sessions, executive
sponsorship and local market engagement opportunities.
- Women’s Next Level Leadership Program: Provides strategies and
tactics to help multicultural women in progressing their careers through an
eight-month virtual development experience.
- Diverse Leader Sponsorship Program: Pairs diverse rising talent with
senior leader sponsors to increase the visibility and representation of
diverse talent. The program includes development sessions, executive
sponsorship and engagement opportunities.
- Global Women’s Conference: Engages women leaders around how to
thrive in their careers at Bank of America and highlight the company’s
investment in their development and advancement.
- Multicultural Women Ready to Lead Workshop: Provides strategies and
tactics to help multicultural women progress in their careers.
Additionally, the bank has Employee Networks, as well as leadership
councils, focused on developing leadership skills, building ties with local
communities and advancing diversity recruitment, some of which include:
- Hispanic-Latino Organization for Leadership & Advancement (HOLA) –
A 17,000 strong network that offers opportunities to develop
leadership skills, engage with local communities and grow professionally.
- Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Development (LEAD) for Women:
The bank’s largest employee network, with more than 32,000
members. The network promotes professional interactions that help attract,
develop, retain and advance female professionals.
- Hispanic-Latino Executive Council (HLEC): Comprised of more than 200
senior executives across the company who serve as advisors and
champions of efforts to serve Hispanic-Latino clients, communities and
employees.
- The Investing in Women Leadership Council: Comprised of senior
executives across the company who serve as advisors and champions of Bank
of America’s efforts working closely with the lines of business, the D&I
organization and other women-focused networks to maximize impact.
“Accenture’s commitment to our more than 50,000 U.S.
people and to accelerating equality for all has never been
more relevant than it is today – to drive our innovation
agenda and act as responsible business leaders,” shares Jimmy Etheredge,
CEO of Accenture. “It enables us to attract, develop, inspire and reward top
talent. And it creates an environment that unleashes innovation, allows our
people to perform at their very best and underpins a culture in which
everyone feels they have an equal opportunity to belong and build a career.”
26 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle V ol. 26, No. 4, 2020
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