Is Your Culture Ready for DE&I Progress?

While the strides I mentioned above are significant, there’s another question we need to be asking in board rooms across America: "Is our culture changing in tandem with our efforts?" Without a resounding "Yes," we’re  at risk of reverting over time to the status quo.

It's natural to want to celebrate progress, yet we need to be realistic about the stages of organizational transformation. Actual change takes months and often years. After all, DEI programs are not new; they date back to the 1960s, when workplace diversity training first emerged. And here we are, 60 years later, still just beginning to address race and gender leadership inequities in corporate America.

Triggering events spur new visions, yet converting fully to a new reality often falls short. Only through applying many lenses to our efforts, dedicating resources, and setting measurable goals can we reinforce and sustain meaningful change.

As we approach a new year, reflect on the past, and forge ahead with our DEI planning, I hope you will evaluate your own efforts in terms of actual cultural change. Were recent appointments of people of color and women made in tandem with developing new programs and pathways for continued leadership advancement, or were they long-overdue promotions given as a reactionary response to social unrest? What new DEI goals exist for your organization in 2022? How will you measure success and stay accountable for continued cultural change?

The College remains committed to helping drive transformational change in the financial services industry through research and program development. We look forward to another year of profound progress with those organizations committed to creating sustainably diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures.