Dive Brief:
- Truist named Dominica Groom Williams the company’s head of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), replacing Wendy McSweeney, who transitioned to the bank's new environmental, social and governance (ESG) and impact advisory team, the bank announced Monday.
- Groom Williams will be responsible for leading strategic inclusion and diversity initiatives at Truist, and will report to Kimberly Moore-Wright, the $545 billion-asset bank’s chief teammate officer and head of enterprise diversity.
- Groom Williams most recently served as the chief culture, inclusion and diversity officer at Guidehouse, a consultancy and solutions provider to the public and commercial sectors.
Dive Insight:
Groom Williams joins the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank as it executes on several diversity-related pledges.
Truist hit its goal to increase ethnically diverse representation in senior leadership roles to at least 15% a year ahead of schedule, according to the bank’s latest ESG report, which disclosed that 43% of Truist’s board members are racially, ethnically or gender diverse.
Additionally, $803.4 million, or 10.8%, of the bank’s spending is connected to diverse suppliers as of June, the bank said.
"Embracing diversity, equity and inclusion is fundamental to what we stand for at Truist and one of the ways we bring our purpose to life," Moore-Wright said in a statement. "I'm excited to have Dominica join our team and build upon the strong progress we've made while continuing to pursue meaningful change for our teammates, clients and communities."
McSweeney, who has headed Truist’s DEI efforts since 2019, has transitioned to developing a holistic ESG strategy that includes DEI efforts, the bank said. She helps to “provide clients with relevant content and capital structure insights to grow their business,” the bank said.
Prior to joining Guidehouse, Groom Williams was a vice president in Freddie Mac’s Office of Inclusive Engagement, where she led the government-sponsored mortgage company's DEI and community engagement platforms.
She also served as the senior director of global supplier diversity and sustainability at hotel chain Marriott International.
