On International Women’s Day let's not be satisfied by #inspo alone. International Women's Day is a call to *action*.

My thoughts on the dilution of IWD messaging, how it intersects with pushback against DEI, and how to move from inspiration to action.

Being an ally sounds great, in theory, but many professionals have confided in me that while their intentions are good, they get stuck on what to say in the moment when their allyship is needed. 

Gen Z women tolerate far less harassment at work than women of my generation, and they are more likely to speak out about things they believe in. Because they are digital media natives who are accustomed to telling their own stories, they are shaking up the industry. I expect more of this to come in future years, and honestly, it's a breath of fresh air. 

For the last nine years I’ve been actively engaged in unlearning what I thought I knew about race in America, and relearning more accurate narratives, as well as learning to speak out on the topic of racial injustice. Now I have the context and the language to call my neighbor what he was- a violent, threatening, white supremacist.

When I was a girl, I wanted to be President. A child of the eighties, I was told by family, teachers, and the media that if I worked hard, I could be whatever I wanted. I was in elementary school when I looked at the posters on my classroom wall and realized that our President, Vice President, and all the former Presidents and Vice Presidents were all men. I realized then that I couldn’t actually be whatever I put my mind to. The Presidency was for men only; women and girls did not belong.

A couple of years into working in finance, I had a similar realization. Though there were some women in executive roles, and I eventually became one of them, we were few and far between.

What I’ve found in my conversations is that many advisors and financial services executives do care, but they just don’t know how to talk about it, or it makes them uncomfortable. But staying silent on an issue you’re uncomfortable with discussing is a choice, and not a smart one.

With that, here is what I’ve learned from those conversations about advisors’ challenge around discussing race, and some thoughts on how to overcome and work with the discomfort around these conversations.

Perhaps you’ve read studies showing that diverse organizations are likely to financially outperform industry medians.

Perhaps you agree with the moral imperative of working toward equitable and inclusive workplaces.

In either case, you may find yourself in agreement in theory, but struggling for how to move from theory to action.

The last two months of protests and political action as a result of George Floyd’s murder are a referendum on the criminal (in)justice system that punitively impacts Black Americans.

You might be thinking, “OK, but what does race have to do with financial services?”

Well, everything.

Do you work in financial services and want to learn more about racism and what you can do to help? Let’s chat.

Last year, I wore a Black Lives Matter shirt on stage at a financial services conference. Among the audience feedback about my presentation were comments that my shirt made people uncomfortable. A shirt - one that asserts the basic humanity of Black folks- made people uncomfortable.

Financial services has a racism problem.

Race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship status, and disability all factor into discrimination and harassment. Women in those and other marginalized or underrepresented groups face a compounding factor; racism and other types of bias can exacerbate the negative effects of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Below are stories of incidents in which women who self-identify as part of an underrepresented group experienced harassment because of their identity as part of that group.

I'm excited to share with you a paper I co-authored on the racial disparities in staffs and boards of SRI mutual funds. Socially responsible funds pursue positive social and environmental impact through both investment selection and shareholder engagement. Because people of color are often affected first and worst by the issues SRI funds are trying to improve, it would behoove the industry to have people of color in decision-making positions at these firms, at least in an amount representative of the US population. (Although I'm making the business case here, but I don't believe we need a business case to treat people equitably and create systems that are more just.)

Pat Miguel Tomaino is the director of socially responsible investing at Zevin Asset Management and is a leader in using shareholder advocacy to advance racial and gender justice initiatives.

We met recently at an impact investing event in Philadelphia and I’m excited to include his recent impact investing success story in my series of interviews.

I don't know about you, but sometimes it feels hard or even superficial to focus on work while seeing the heartbreaking stories of immigrant families being separated at the border. But how do we also leverage our positions in financial services to make pragmatic steps forward with the financial levers available to us? I have some thoughts.

Marian Wright Edelman says, “you can’t be what you can’t see.” It’s tough to stay in a field (let alone advance) when there are no colleagues or leaders who look like you. It’s not just that you can’t see the path to the top, it’s also that peers and managers can’t imagine “someone like you” as a leader.

One of the things I often speak and write about is the lack of diversity in financial services. We’re not even close to reflecting the racial, ethnic, or gender diversity of the United States. Today I want to share one relatively easy starting point where each of us can make an impact and push our companies and colleagues towards improvement.