At Bank of America, diversity and inclusion starts at board level and ripples out across the whole of the group. The bank’s responsible growth strategy, which it adopted in 2014, continues to deliver results on diversity representation inside its own operations and supply chains, while also creating economic opportunity for its stakeholders.
BofA’s metrics show the group is progressing. According to workforce diversity data in its annual report, 26% of employees in management levels 1 to 3 were people of colour, up 2% from the previous year. The percentage of women in mid and senior levels was also up slightly. At year-end 2022, BofA’s global workforce was 50% women, 50% people of colour and 55% of the executive team is now diverse.
“We wouldn’t have these results if we didn’t have a top-down approach,” says Cynthia Bowman, chief diversity and inclusion and corporate social responsibility officer at BofA.
Bowman, who has held the title since 2016, sees the success of the group as a direct result of the commitment made at senior management level.