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Nationally, banking was long known as a white-male-dominated industry. But Rhode Island is taking steps to change that with BankForward, an initiative that aims to empower individuals who may have felt that a career in banking was out of reach. And once they’ve gotten in the door, banks are working to ensure those minority employees have opportunities to rise through the ranks, with the goal of ultimately creating more diverse leadership teams.
Launched last year by the Rhode Island Bankers Association, 14 banks and an investment management company are part of the initiative: Bank of America Corp., Santander Bank, BankNewport, Citizens Financial Group Inc., BayCoast Bank, Bristol County Savings Bank, BankFive, Home Loan Investment Bank FSB, Rockland Trust Co., Centreville Bank, Customers Bancorp Inc., HarborOne Bank, The Washington Trust Co., Van Liew Trust, and TD Bank.
“We saw that this was the best thing for the industry, and we recognize that this is going to have tremendous benefits for all of us,” said Keith Kelly, president of both Citizens Bank’s Rhode Island division and the Rhode Island Bankers Association.
This kind of partnership puts Rhode Island banks of all sizes on the same team.
“The cross collaboration of the banks is incredibly important, and I think the fact that we have this kind of collaboration shows that this is a statewide, industrywide priority,” said Kristen DiSanto, senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Washington Trust.
BankForward’s community talent outreach consultant, Marcela Betancur, spent a few months learning the needs of each of the banks, and reaching out to organizations focused on community engagement or workforce education.
“And then in January, we started hosting panels and career conversations with banking leaders, and inviting students and other community members to attend,” said Betancur, who is also the executive director of the Latino Policy Institute. “We did a series of events with Year Up students: resume reviews, mock interviews, a career fair, those sorts of things.”
One objective of BankForward, and of the banks involved, is to help young people understand that a career in banking does not have to mean being a teller or an accountant: “We want to show that there are opportunities in nonfinancial departments too, like human resources, marketing and community relations, and risk and compliance,” said Andrea Rodrigues, director of marketing programs and community relations at BankFive.
One of the participants from Year Up, a tuition-free job training program, was subsequently hired by BankFive. Keishla Aponte, who was part of Year Up’s business operations program, is now working in BankFive’s Customer Contact Center in Fall River, supporting customer needs.
“I had thought about banking a little bit, but my first real introduction to banking was at the BankForward event,” Aponte said. “We met with people from a bunch of banks, and they all went over their backgrounds and what they do now. It was a good insight on what I want in my life.”
BankForward will continue such programs and is currently working with the Community College of Rhode Island to create a class called The Fundamentals of Banking to educate students about careers in banking.
Workforce diversification is important not only for the employees but also for the customers these banks serve. In Rhode Island, 18.7% of the population identifies as Latino, 5.7% as Black, 3.6% as Asian, 9.3% as multiracial, and 0.7% as Native American, according to 2020 census data.
“We know that our customers in these underserved communities want to be talking to somebody who looks like them, represents their community and can speak the language,” Kelly said.
The ultimate goal of BankForward, though, is to retain these diverse employees in the long term and to help them rise into higher positions because that tends to be where the most significant disparities lie. At Washington Trust, for example, people of color make up 12.6% of the total workforce but only 5.6% of the executive leadership team. Similarly, the total workforce is 62.5% women, while the executive leadership team is 50% women.
“When you lack the support for growth opportunities, especially as a person of color or as someone who comes from a low-income background, statistically you’re less likely to stay at that company,” Betancur said. “So, we’re asking: How are we ensuring that we’re supporting people who are currently in the banking industry to continue to grow? That’s the most pivotal part.”
Banks can support that goal by hiring internally. In 2023, nearly 30% of all open positions at Citizens were filled by existing employees, and at BankFive, it’s a conscious goal.
“We would much rather hire internally because the employees we have are the ones who know us best, so it really is a much better fit when we can do training and education and development and have people succeed from within the bank,” said BankFive Vice President of Human Resources Deidre Fountain, noting that BankFive’s last president started at BankFive as a teller in high school.
As part of its outreach work, BankForward has built a network of minorities who have spent their careers in banking. Betancur hopes to eventually create a supervisory system with educational and training opportunities for individuals working in banking. There’s a long way to go, but BankForward shows the Rhode Island banking industry is investing in its future.
“I think it will absolutely pay off,” Kelly said.