In hundreds of cities across the nation, people are gathering to use their voice in a campaign for racial justice and equity. And organizations around the world are listening. As businesses commit to creating a more inclusive culture to better serve their diverse audiences, financial institutions are especially poised to make a difference. A key source of inequity is socioeconomic as demonstrated by the wealth gap between black and white populations. FIs have an important role to play in closing the racial wealth gap, thereby having a significant and long-term impact economically and consequently with racial equity and social injustice.
Engage.
Assess your FI’s current programs for inclusion, diversity, and training against unconscious biases. Make a renewed commitment to excel in these current programs while committing to and taking action in new ways to create a lasting change within your organization, corporate culture, and community. Engage your team to create an inclusive and fair space for all.
Give Back.
Charitable giving is an investment in a better community for the future. A key to effective charitable giving is to listen. Listen to your community and the voices sweeping our nation. Let’s open our ears and hearts to the pleas for anti-racism and inclusion and support the nonprofit organizations and initiatives that are making a difference in these areas by creating a better, more equitable future.
Represent.
Representation matters. Reassess your leadership team, your staff, and your marketing materials to ensure that a diverse group of people is represented. Representation is linked to how people feel that are viewed, and even how they view themselves so be intentional about racial diversity and inclusion in every aspect of your organization.
Invest.
By innovating with intention and focus in different and brand new ways to invest in communities and customers of color, financial institutions can dramatically impact and change the financial realities and futures of these individuals, their businesses, and communities while also making a positive economic impact locally, regionally and nationally.
For example, as lenders, FI’s can provide greater access to capital. As shareholders, they can hold businesses accountable. As influencers and stakeholders, they can elevate policy. As employers, they can advance diversity and inclusion as well as pay equity in their own workplaces.*
Note: For use by any financial institution customers and non-customers, DeepTarget has introduced a supplemental collection to the Critical Community Outreach package. Customers now have immediate and FREE access to the “Together Collection” which features digital campaign content that endorses equality and justice within the communities that they serve. This collection is already available to all clients in the product content library.
We hope that 2020 will be the year that launches us all into a new, more inclusive era. We appeal to all readers to find inspiration, welcome new voices, seek opportunities to do more, and create change for a better, more equitable future.
*See article: www.BCG.com
