Truist Financial has hired former Freddie Mac executive Dominica Groom Williams as its new head of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Groom Williams, who mostly recently served as chief culture, inclusion and diversity officer at the consulting firm Guidehouse, will report to Kimberly Moore-Wright, Truist’s chief teammate officer and head of enterprise diversity.
"Embracing diversity, equity and inclusion is fundamental to what we stand for at Truist," Moore-Wright said Monday in a press release. “I’m excited to have Dominica join our team and build upon the strong progress we’ve made while continuing to pursue meaningful change for our teammates, clients and communities,” she said.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Truist reached a goal set in 2020 to increase ethnically diverse representation in the bank’s senior leadership roles to 15% a year earlier than its original commitment, according to its latest report on corporate social responsibility as well as environmental, social and governance issues.
Truist also said in the report that 43% of the members of its board of directors are racially diverse, ethnically diverse or gender diverse, and that it filled 54% of its early-career program participants last year with diverse candidates. The bank added that it plans to hire at least 5% of future staff from Historically Black Colleges and Universities by 2023.
The North Carolina bank’s earlier $60 billion plan, which was tied to the BB&T-SunTrust merger, is set to expire this year. Its new efforts are a sign that such deals aren't always one-off arrangements meant to grease the rails for an acquisition.
In March, Truist said it had completed a $60 billion
Before her stint at Guidehouse, Groom Williams spent more than three years as vice president for human resources in the Office of Inclusive Engagement at the government-backed mortgage lender Freddie Mac.
She also spent nearly 10 years at the hotel chain Marriott International, most recently as senior director for global operations, supplier diversity and sustainability.
Groom Williams is replacing Wendy McSweeney, who has joined the new environmental, social and governance impact advisory team in Truist’s commercial community bank.
