Vault Celebrates Top Employers for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Published: May 16, 2022
Today, many leading banking and consulting firms are committed to making diversity and inclusion a priority in recruiting, empowering, and retaining talent. In fact, some of the world's top banking and consulting firms are now heavily investing in resources and initiatives to further the hiring, developing, and promoting of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Recently, Vault spoke with professionals at some of our top-ranked banking and consulting firms for diversity to hear about what their firms are doing on the DEI front. Below, you’ll hear from professionals at the investment banking firm Harris Williams and the consulting firms LeapPoint and Trinity Life Sciences.
At Harris Williams, the firm’s commitment to excellence goes hand in hand with its commitment to its people. Hilary King, a vice president in Harris Williams’ consumer group, was drawn to the firm’s reputation in M&A as well as its extensive development opportunities. Now she sits on the firm’s DE&I executive leadership team, leading LGBTQ+ efforts in creating a culture where people can bring their full authentic selves to work. As a mother of two, Hilary appreciates the firm’s culture of flexibility with respect to where and when you get your work done. This has allowed her to be completely present both at work and with her family.
Laura Anderson, a business process consultant, found what she was looking for at LeapPoint. She recalls entering the field having strong feelings of wanting to do valuable work and making people’s work lives better. She also wanted to feel valued herself, and to see her colleagues valued for who they are and the work that they do. In the below video, Laura talks about the importance of psychological safety on innovation and on creating an environment of inclusivity and belonging. She also discusses the importance of a remote work environment (LeapPoint is a fully remote firm) on work/life balance and diversity, giving staff the flexibility to balance their lives while allowing the firm to cast a wider talent net and hire people from diverse backgrounds.
Krista Perry is a partner at Trinity Life Sciences. Having worked at the firm for 15 years, she has personally witnessed how far the industry has come. When she joined the firm, there weren’t any affinity or diversity groups. Since then, things have grown organically, starting with women in business and DEI groups, leading to dedicated staff and multiple employee-driven affinity groups.
In the video below, Krista introduces Patrick Hong, a senior consultant at Trinity who chairs the LGBTQIA Perspectives group. Patrick discusses the initiatives that groups like his are working on and how they’ve changed the landscape for newcomers joining the firm. He talks about when he first joined Trinity and had a mentor who helped him navigate issues such as ‘Should I come out at work or how should I come out at work?’ He explains how conversations like these helped him to feel comfortable about his own identity and to be his best self at work.
This post was sponsored by Harris Williams, LeapPoint, and Trinity Life Sciences.