What excites you about working at BNY Mellon?

The many opportunities our firm offers to grow and develop as a business professional excite me greatly. There is a culture of learning, cooperation and respect, and these values permeate across all job functions and lines of business. During my time at BNY Mellon, I have seen the firm take great strides in identifying, addressing and improving its diversity and inclusion efforts. For example, our Courageous Conversation series where we talk about issues such as social injustice, as well as charitable campaigns geared towards providing support for our community leaders. From top to bottom, the organization is listening to its diverse workforce and responding to the demand for meaningful change. As a young Black man, this makes it particularly exciting to work at BNY Mellon, and I look forward to continuing the journey.

What does Black History Month mean to you?

Black History Month is a time to connect past, present and future as they relate to the Black experience in the United States. It’s a chance to educate people on the struggles that Blacks have endured since setting foot on this side of the Atlantic and shed light on how these tragedies sowed the seeds of the societal issues we still see today. On the flip side, Black History Month allows us to highlight the heroes and innovators who helped lay the foundation for some of the incredible achievements this nation has enjoyed and give credit to those whom the history books have left out. It also allows us to reflect on where we currently are – both as individuals and as a collective – and our role in broader society. This then leads us into the future – what are some of the strides we want to make, what boundaries do we want to break, and what obstacles will we need to overcome to get there?

Tell us how you’re living our Courage to Lead value at BNY Mellon.

I take advantage of every opportunity to affect change, drive innovation and increase collaboration at the firm. I have been blessed with an opportunity to make an impact, both in my day job, but also — and maybe even more importantly — on workplace culture through my work with our E/BRGs (Employee/Business Resource Groups). Working as a Black man in a historically white industry, I feel that I owe it to myself and the culture to make an impact, be bold, and bring my A-game 100 percent of the time. To me, this means not only excelling in my role, but taking the extra effort to be a champion for D&I initiatives and social engagement within the firm. While I may stumble along the way, part of your success as a leader is how you pick yourself back up, and my goal is to transform any failure into a learning experience. I try to think of everything I do in the context of setting a positive example — and through the ups, downs and everything in between, this mindset keeps me motivated to succeed.