In this week’s installment of our Career Advice video series, Fair360’s Linda Bell interviewed Maxine Swayne, Chief Administrative Officer, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at U.S. Bank (No. 11 on the Fair360 2023 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list). Swayne spoke about her work on corporate boards, the role of environmental, social and governance (ESG) in attracting and retaining talent and what gives her the most career fulfillment.
U.S. Bank ranked at No. 11 for 2023, an improvement of six spots from the previous year. The company made advancements in talent development as it expanded its pipeline to increase the representation of women at leadership levels and people of color at all levels.
As we incorporate Access Commitment across all of our business lines, we continue to listen, learn and evolve our work. We remain committed to providing access to financial education, career development and capital to all our communities. The work to create systemic change and equity is and will continue to be one of the top priorities at U.S. Bank.
I’m so excited about the work we are doing in DEI. When you center equity in all that you do, and you think of communities as asset-based communities and consider how customers want to understand possibilities and how you serve them, that is what inclusive growth looks like. It’s tying the DEI goals to the business goals and strategy. That’s how DEI becomes a catalyst for growth for the organization. Through that process, you gain innovation in product development, talent development, and your ability to serve all customers in a much more complete way.
At U.S. Bank, our approach to diversity, equity and inclusion is unique, because we look at how diversity, equity and inclusion benefits all our stakeholders and operationalize it through every business line of our company, including consumer and business banking, corporate and commercial banking, payments, wealth management and investment services as well as support areas such as workplace initiatives, community involvement and supplier diversity program.
It’s been two years since U.S. Bank launched U.S. Bank Access Commitment, its long-term approach to help build wealth, help close the racial wealth gap, redefine how it serves diverse communities and provide more opportunities for diverse employees. U.S. Bank started with the Black community because that is where the persistent racial wealth gap in the United States is the largest. In 2023 and beyond, U.S. Bank will expand its focus to include the Hispanic community in Access Commitment initiatives.
In 2022, U.S. Bank focused on a set of initiatives to help individuals and families build wealth. Progress has been made and U.S. Bank is committed to continue the work.
At U.S. Bank, we continue to expand our talent pipeline to increase representation of women at leadership levels and people of color at all levels. In 2022, we have invested in more than 200 Black and Hispanic leaders who completed McKinsey Black Leadership Academy development training.
