Sarah Mears, Managing Director, Chief Human Resources Officer

I recently spent some time reviewing feedback from a pilot program our firm launched last year to empower women, and a phrase from one participant keeps coming back to me: “Finding out I wasn’t alone.”

For me, those words capture the essence of MUFG Investor Services’ goal for diversity, equity, and inclusion. In our firm, no one should feel alone. Ever. We want all colleagues to feel like they are an integral part of our team, and we want them to have the confidence to speak up, share their views, advocate for themselves, and bring their full selves to work every day. That’s how we become stronger.

That concept resonates globally tomorrow with International Women’s Day, which looks to “a world where difference is valued and celebrated.” #InspireInclusion.

I’m proud that gender has been one of the foundational pillars for our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) platform since 2019—reinforced by key performance indicators set by our executive leadership team and cascaded throughout our organization with programs that create awareness, including the “All of Us” women’s network, a “Welcome Back” program for new mothers, as well as dynamic mentoring initiatives.

We’ve recently implemented new training and tools to develop a more balanced pipeline of candidates, and we’re holding business leaders responsible for creating more diverse teams. We have introduced balanced slates at interview levels for both candidates and the interview panels. At the same time, we’ve reduced our gender pay gap and continue to apply a deliberate gender lens when considering promotions.

But we also know that creating an environment of true inclusion and equality is never “done.” It’s always a work in progress, and we recognize that there is more to do. In the past year, we’ve taken steps to enhance our gender and inclusion initiatives to ensure women—particularly those working in business areas with predominantly male colleagues—have the opportunity to be heard and to grow in their roles.

The pilot program I mentioned earlier, Empowering Voices, began in August with an incredible group of women from across the firm to help them build personal and professional confidence, enhance self-advocacy skills, and create a support network with other women in a psychologically safe and intimate setting.

In three sessions, these colleagues shared their experiences and participated in robust discussions, workshops, and role-modeling behavior exercises. They explored ways to identify and establish professional boundaries, and to bring positive energy to conversations to create a more collaborative experience.

It’s been gratifying to see the members of that first group successfully use these new skills with their teams. Later this month, we’re launching the second round of the program.

As our work has evolved, we’ve learned that engaging male colleagues as “inclusion champions” is critical to creating a diverse environment. Last year, a group from our most senior male leaders attended our Men For Inclusion program, which focuses on driving cultural change, mentoring under-represented groups, and addressing accidental sexism in the workplace. We also invited women to participate in the program to provide perspective and create deeper dialogue.

The “inclusion champions” agree to address workplace diversity and inclusion challenges and to strengthen inclusion as a norm in our daily business operations. The champions prioritize educating colleagues about inclusion, normalizing inclusive group situations, sharing the program’s principles and conversations with their teams, and creating engagement channels for their colleagues to share experiences. I’m proud of the impact this program has made, and our third session begins in April.

Our firm supports International Women’s Day’s vision to create “a world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive.” We dedicate resources to help fulfill that dream because it’s the right thing to do for our colleagues, and because we know that our inclusion and diversity initiatives make us a stronger business for our clients.