Diversity and equality

Financial downturns hit lower-wealth communities first and cause them to suffer the longest.

Earlier this year, canvassers visited branches in five California counties to ask about account options. Some 37% of those who spoke Spanish were unable to talk to a banker, compared with 15% of English speakers, according to a report by the Roosevelt Institute.

Community development financial institutions that are led by people of color will receive the capital, which is being distributed through the National Alliance of Latino CDFI Executives and the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, according to BofA.

New policies, aided by partnerships with local organizations, are helping credit unions make significant progress on DEI.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who lobbied hard for President Biden to forgive $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower, said his much smaller plan can still address racial and gender wealth inequality and help tame inflation.

Goldman Sachs Group faces a June 5 trial in a long-simmering gender-bias class action alleging the bank discriminated against thousands of women in pay and promotion.

For a government agency that prefers to move gradually, the change at the top has come fast, thanks in large part to increased pressure in the wake of a national reckoning around diversity. But it has also fallen short in some ways.

Younger and more diverse leaders may better represent the local community. But bringing new people into the board room requires persistent and targeted outreach.

BMO Financial is expanding its efforts to recruit "underleveraged" job candidates among families fleeing war and hunger abroad. Refugees offer businesses diverse skills and have lower turnover rates than typical North American workers.

Through unconscious bias assessments, analysis and industry partnerships, financial institutions are working to meet the diverse needs of current and future talent.