Honoring Juneteenth

On Monday, financial markets in the United States are closed in observation of Juneteenth, which commemorates the nation’s emancipation of enslaved African-Americans.

Some State Street colleagues will be spending it volunteering and educating themselves. As I reflect on the day, I cannot help feeling both somber and hopeful. Somber because I cannot help but ask why did pervasive slavery exist and persist such that we have a holiday to celebrate the ending of what should never have occurred. Hopeful because today, of all days, progress feels palpable.

Yet, I am reminded that progress does not propel itself. We each need to become advocates of equity to build the lasting change that we want and need to see. We do this personally, professionally, and en masse as members of our local and global communities.

I have personally committed to education, uncomfortable conversations, and challenging my own convictions. This commitment has led me to put myself in situations in which I give voice to others, seeking to better hear their stories and understand that while I will never truly comprehend what it is like to be considered and treated as lesser than or unfairly, I can empathize with the challenges that my friends and colleagues face.

From that point of empathy, it has also led us to put actions in place that will enable equity. When we launched our 10 Immediate Actions to Address Racism and Inequality,  we believed that they would serve as a catalyst for systemic change. Today, two years after we launched these actions, we are seeing incremental early progress. We have increased both Black and Latinx representation at our key management levels and within our executive leadership groups, spent $216.1M with diverse suppliers (exceeding our original commitment), increased racial diversity of our board members from nine percent to 25 percent, and increased employee participation in our day of service/reflection. Since March 2021, we have also issued two bonds totaling $2.35B, with the underwriting syndicates consisting of both our traditional providers plus Black, women, and veteran owned firms. Importantly, 50 percent of fees from our $850M March 2021 issuance, and 46 percent of fees from our $1.5B February 2022 issuance, went to Black-owned companies. These are meaningful outcomes and good progress.

As we move forward, we must continue to drive results with a focus on achieving greater equity. We will continue to create mobility opportunities, increase the number of partnerships and strategies that we can leverage to add diversity to our industry, and continue to bring diverse leadership into our organization. We are also working with organizations like MLT Black Equity at Work to gauge our progress and ensure that we are achieving meaningful milestones.

This Juneteenth, I encourage you to spend time reflecting on the change you want to see and putting actions in place that can propel that change both personally and within the communities where you live and work. Establish your own Juneteenth traditions by finding ways to learn, celebrate, and honor what Juneteenth represents.

We each have the power and the opportunity to make a difference. The question is how and whether we will use it.