Gary Rhoda’s Post

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has made a surprising change to its “Possibilities Summit” for Black college students: It’s opened the program to White students. At Bank of America Corp., certain internal programs that used to focus on women and minorities have been broadened to include everyone. And at Bank of New York Mellon Corp., executives are being urged to reconsider hard metrics for workforce diversity. Lose them, lawyers have advised. This is what diversity, equity and inclusion looks like on Wall Street today: anxious, fraught – and changing fast. Read more about how it today in our `Big Take':

My keynote "The Future of DEI in Corporate America" is timely given the daily news headlines. 👉Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, & Bank of New York Mellon are among the US banks reassessing their DEI initiatives. 👉Changes include broadening internal programs to include everyone, eliminating hard DEI targets, & reworking recruitment programs aimed at underrepresented minorities. 👉Many companies publicly maintain their commitment to diversity, but privately many recognize the setbacks caused by the campaign against DEI. 👉Hope is not lost in our efforts to increase US workplace diversity. It means we adapt our approaches, reevaluate processes & systems, become more data-driven, & focus on programs that produce results. Excited to talk about this more at the Annual University of San Francisco Women in Leadership & Philanthropy Symposium conference later this week! #DEI #DEIB #conference #presentation #keynotespeaker #diversityequityinclusion #diversity #equity #womeninbusiness #womenentrepreneurs #womenhelpingwomen #womenleadership #womenleaders #philanthropy #philanthropymatters #businessstrategy #advocacy #transformation https://lnkd.in/grGXfjD4

I had the privilege of addressing over 150 ambitious Black students and recent graduates at Barclays' "Young, Black and in Finance" event. The energy in the room was electric, filled with potential ready to be unleashed on the finance world. As I shared my journey from a council estate to a thriving career in finance, I saw eyes light up with recognition and hope. My message was clear: your background isn't a barrier—it's your unique edge in this industry. To the future finance leaders I met: 1. Your perspective is invaluable. The challenges you've faced have equipped you with resilience and insight that this industry needs. 2. Embrace discomfort. You might often be the only one from your community in the room. Use that position to drive change. 3. Your 'superpower' lies in your differences. My immigrant background and early struggles shaped my approach to finance in ways that became my greatest strengths. 4. Focus on what you have: work ethic, likability, curiosity, and drive. These qualities will set you apart more than any privilege ever could. 5. Don't wait for opportunities—create them through relentless effort and dedication. To Barclays and Nana Agyemang : Thank you for creating this crucial platform. Your commitment to diversity is shaping the future of finance. To every young person wondering if they belong in finance: You don't just belong—you're essential. The industry is waiting for the unique value only you can bring. Let's continue to break barriers and redefine what leadership looks like in finance. #DiversityInFinance #FutureOfFinance #CareerInspiration #BarclaysEvent

How to be an effective ally? Nominate & spotlight someone in your organisation that has been doing their part in bringing in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion! 10 days left - Need help with nominating? Just reach out to us! Pass it forward! Take action & support the change you want to experience. #diversityequityandinclusion #championsofchange

During my studies on DEI (Dominance, Equity, and Inclusion) at IOBM, I encountered a debate that has stucked up whether Dominance, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) should be incorporated in industry or not. DEI has become a buzzword in corporate culture, While many argue that DEI initiatives foster innovation, collaboration, and create fair opportunities for all, others have raised concerns about potential negative effects, such as tokenism, reduced meritocracy, or cultural clashes. Since i believe that Dominance and Equity should be merit-based rather than implemented solely for diversity. In my view, Dominance and Equity should be based on merit to ensure that opportunities are awarded fairly and efficiently, rather than focusing purely on meeting diversity metrics. But I’m curious to hear from others—how do you balance the need for diversity with maintaining a meritocratic workplace? Can DEI initiatives complement a merit-based system effectively?

Thank you Beeke-Marie for your leadership as the FINOS #DEI SIG enters a new phase with the leadership of Paula Paul and Sérgio Bettencourt in addition to Rita Chaturvedi (she / her). I am so much looking forward to seeing your impact! I can't stress enough what a unique opportunity we have here to make a real dent on the so-called "pipeline problem". As foundations, our fundamental job is to help align drivers of diverse stakeholders and I believe at the crossroads of #opensource + #financialservices + #DEI there's a huge win-win (CONCRETE) opportunity. Hear me out: 🤝 Through our #DEI SIG and events we can create an environment and invite a diverse and underrepresented population to our venues. 👩💻 Through #opensource good first issues (https://lnkd.in/g5fUprtc), this population can have a solid & impactful onramp to contribute to FINOS projects. Either in their own time, or funded through crowdfunding / mentorship platforms. After all, which maintainer would not welcome an ever growing set of contributors? 🏦 Being these projects widely used and often mission critical in #financialinstitutions, these new contributors constitute very appealing, and battle-tested, up and coming talent these firms should closely look at and they generally don't have access to. And viceversa, this creates a concrete path for URMs to show their talent to some of the most sought after employers in the globe. And, while I don't think #DEI shouldn't be political issue, IMHO this model should be objection-proof wherever you sit in the political spectrum, because it's completely meritocratic. Plus it allows to move past the evangelization phase (think DEI panels), which, whilst important, doesn't go all the way to concretely move the needle. What do you think? Rhyddian Olds Kim Jaffee - Prado James McLeod Jane Gavronsky Rimma Perelmuter Declan O'Gorman Michael Wilson Elspeth Minty Brian Ingenito Sam Moorhouse

#BTS 📸 - An engaging hybrid meeting discussing #EconomicTransformation and the rise of Emerging Black Asset Managers. The Momentum Consultants team joined as we explored strategies for driving inclusive growth in the financial sector. Insightful perspectives were shared on empowering underrepresented talent and fostering an ecosystem that promotes diversity in asset management - reinforcing our commitment to creating equitable opportunities. #DiversityandInclusion #DEI #TransformingFinance #AssetManagement

I thoroughly enjoyed SWEN's Natwest Insight event orchestrated by Aisha this Friday, featuring the esteemed guest speakers - Jo Wharton, a graduate trainee in internal audit at Natwest, Yinka Fadina, the Head of Audit at Natwest, and Nick Howe, a Natwest Enterprise Manager. I'm deeply appreciative of their invaluable insights, which provided me with a wealth of knowledge. They offered profound insights into navigating a career in the banking industry and shed light on Natwest's organisational culture and commitment to diversity and inclusion. Their collective wisdom was truly remarkable, and here are some standout quotes from each of them: Jo emphasised the importance of learning from past experiences and not being afraid to make mistakes as the path that others may take may not be the one for me. This links back to a word of wisdom given to me by Dr Theodora, that failure should be defined as the first time of learning, and along my journey, I should take everything in stride as that will lead me to success. Yinka imparted the wisdom that life's journey is anything but linear, advocating for setting goals incrementally, akin to climbing a ladder. I learnt that understanding what I want most out of my career is an important first step to setting my goals. Nick drew from his extensive experience as a longstanding employee of Natwest, highlighting the vital role of soft skills and emphasising the importance of prioritising solutions to customers' problems for businesses. I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone at Natwest and the University of East London for their tireless efforts in making this event a reality. In closing, I'd like to pose a question: Based on your own experiences, what advice would you offer someone navigating career ambitions, entrepreneurial endeavours, and networking? #natwest #uel #SWEN #bankingindustry #insight

An F100 financial institution had long recognized the importance of strengthening its commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIB) – both across its business units and at the leadership level. Although a robust, well-resourced program had been established years earlier, leaders of DIB were unsure how their efforts were landing with employees. Leadership wanted to learn more about how well the organization’s core values and culture aligned with DIB programs and policies. To gain perspective on the situation, Southpaw Insights interviewed over 140 employees representing a wide range of roles/tenure/levels and different personal identity groups (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and veteran status). Using a diverse team of 9 interviewers, we were able to match our interviewers with the employee profiles to increase their comfort and create conditions for them to candidly share their lived reality with us. Read the full case study here: https://lnkd.in/emufZQkn #Diversity #Inclusion

Edward Jones associates make a tremendous impact throughout North America. Read about our commitments and our actions in our sixth-annual Purpose, Inclusion and Citizenship Report, Growing Our Impact. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3IXcRPD