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As a former health care executive, now working in the financial services sector, how do you compare and contrast the state of Diversity?

I believe that both industries consider Diversity one of their chief objectives, and both have a long way to go in terms of achieving greater Diversity – especially at the Senior Management level. The biggest challenge that these industries face is not only achieving greater Diversity, but sustaining it on a consistent and ongoing basis. The Financial Services industry in particular has done a noteworthy job of achieving a respectable level of Diversity, particularly at the entry level, through the recruitment of college graduates, but continues to struggle with identifying, sourcing and recruiting experienced Diversity Financial Services Professionals that have the appropriate skill set, pedigree and potential cultural fit. I do believe that the Financial Services Industry’s intentions are sincere, and pointing in the right direction.

Who out there has created practical solutions to increase the pipeline of experienced Diversity candidates in our industry?

In early 2007, the Money Management Institute (MMI), one of the Asset Management community’s preeminent professional associations, decided it was time to take a long overdue, more proactive approach toward driving greater Diversity within the industry. The MMI created a program called Gateway to Leadership. Gateway is a grass roots effort to introduce college students and newly minted graduates from historically African American universities and colleges to the multi-faceted world of Financial Services. Although there are no guarantees of success, the young men and women that participate in the Gateway program are high achievers in their academic careers, have tremendous raw potential, and exhibit the promise to hopefully represent the experienced Diversity candidates of tomorrow.

Tell us a little bit about DAK Candidate Mapping.

DAK, now in its 30th year of business, has been affecting Diversity hires long before it became a corporate movement. In fact, we rarely will notify a client that a Diversity candidate is in our process. Our belief is that when an individual is qualified, they’re qualified. While we are not a Diversity owned firm, and we may not be top of mind in a Diversity search conversation, we are actively involved. In April of this year, DAK decided to take its commitment to driving greater Diversity to the next level, by bringing me on board to specifically head up the Diversity Search and Candidate Mapping program. With Candidate Mapping, I partner with a financial organization to build out a customized program that enables them to tap into a pre-qualified pool of Diversity candidates who may fit any number of search mandates that our client may have within their organization. The Candidate Mapping program is the solution to the aforementioned issues that face financial institutions everyday: achieving greater Diversity, and sustaining it on a consistent and ongoing basis.

Our use of technology has enabled us to connect the buy-and-sell sides of the employer/employee continuum. We have built a secure, password protected front-end that allows Human Resources professionals and Line Executives to access their customized DAK Candidate Mapping Database with a few clicks of their mouse!

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