The Toigo Foundation: Taking Steps to Diversify the Financial Services Industry

By Kerry Jordan

“No one who makes it does so alone.” This assertion by Dr. Stacy Blake-Beard, Professor of Management at the Simmons School of Management, was recently made at the Toigo Foundation’s third-annual Groundbreakers Women in Leadership Summit on December 5. In those eight words, Blake-Beard encapsulated so much of what Toigo is about as an organization.

Founded in 1989, the Robert Toigo Foundation’s goal is to bring increased diversity to the finance industry through a number of programs aimed at inspiring young people of color who might not have otherwise considered a career in the finance industry. Through its MBA Fellowship the Foundation provides leadership training, mentoring, tuition assistance, and support as they pursue MBAs and launch their finance careers. Toigo offers the only diversity leadership development program focused on the field of finance.

Financial Services’ Lack of Diversity
There is endless data that illustrates the great need for an organization like Toigo that is committed to encouraging people of color to enter the financial services industry. A report by the General Accountability Office (GAO) looked at the issue of diversity in the financial services industry, finding that “overall diversity at the management level in the financial services industry did not change substantially from 1993 through 2008.” Using data collected by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the GAO reported that minorities held just 10 percent of senior-level management positions at financial services firms. In 2008, EEOC data revealed that white males held 64 percent of all senior jobs in financial services, with African Americans holding 2.8 percent, Hispanics 3 percent of all senior jobs, and Asians holding 3.5 percent of top-level jobs.

The GAO reported that “without a sustained commitment” from firms, “diversity at the management level may continue to remain generally unchanged over time” – and the numbers haven’t moved much in the six-years since.

Sharing Insights & Inspiration
This is part of the reason Toigo’s Groundbreakers Women in Leadership Summit is so powerful: it enables women to connect with other women who’ve made it in industries that are male-dominated and typically lack people of color at their highest levels. The organization’s President and CEO, Nancy Sims, said the goal of the event is to build on what the organization started in 2011: stories from inspiring leaders and perspective and advice for thinking about where you are and where you’d like to go.

“Toigo created Groundbreakers to bring together senior leaders, and those on their way, to share insights, and inspire each other,” Sims said in a statement. “From business trends and public policy to philanthropy, it’s an opportunity to engage in conversation and learn about new areas outside your current ‘domain.’”

At the recent Groundbreakers Summit, Dr. Blake-Beard facilitated a lunch workshop focused on managing networks and relationships to advance professional goals and achievements. The discussion centered on three types of relationships: people who have helped you get the job done; people who have helped you advance your career; and people who have provided you with personal support. The purpose of this personal review, she said, was to ensure that a woman’s network is effectively positioned to allow her to fulfill her near-term and long-term goals. As women in finance careers grow their networks, it is imperative to the success of future generations to share their knowledge. This will contribute to an ever-more educated work force. Education is the power to implement change.

Women Leading the Way
The Summit’s opening speaker, John Gerzema, author of the New York Times best-selling book “The Athena Doctrine: How Women (and the Men Who Think Like Them) Will Rule the Future”, encouraged women to be bold in their pursuit of their goals to change the status quo. In his book, the author examines how the most innovative women and men break from traditional structures to influence new ways of leading and solving today’s leadership and societal challenges.

“Courageous leadership adapts to make change possible,” Gerzema said at the summit. The financial education of girls and young women will not only benefit firms looking to diversify their ranks; it will foster their development to become tomorrow’s leaders. Finance is the language of the boardroom. If we expect to gain equity in the boardroom, we need to learn to speak the language.

Anita Hill, professor of law at Brandeis University and former senior member of the U.S. Education Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was another speaker at Toigo’s recent Summit. Hill recently authored “Reimagining Equality: Stories of Race, Gender, and Finding Home”, in which she explores our country’s ongoing search for equality among its citizens. In her remarks, Hill explored how women can benefit from being resilient, advising them to connect themselves to their goals in an effort to increase their resiliency. She said, “People say scholars can’t be advocates, but I like to use my scholarship to inform my advocacy.” It was a reminder of the importance of education and how in any industry – including financial services – knowledge is power.