LGBTQ Bankers
The financial industry has been a leader in the business community today for adopting employee diversity policies that target discrimination in employment and the workplace. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the banks. As an industry whose success depends on individual competency, achievement and relationship building, this is perhaps not a surprising development.
A good part of the reason for the outright acceptance of LGBTQ individuals is simply because of the large presence of LGBTQ individuals in the banking sector of the financial industry. Many of these individuals have advanced into the ranks of senior management. They have then gone on to found the company’s LGBTQ employee groups, or become executive sponsors to diversity initiatives within their companies.
Banks around the world have also grown to appreciate the influence, relative wealth and affluence in the LGBTQ community and wish to reach out to them in signs of recognition and acceptance to attract them as customers.
There have also been notable and prominent LGBTQ individuals in the banking history throughout history, and these individuals have made remarkably important contributions to global economic progress. Among these are included American Alexander Hamilton, the creator of the U.S. financial industry and the country's first Secretary of the Treasury, and Great Britain's John Maynard Keynes, the most prominent economist in history. The first out gay banker to head a stock-exchange listed bank in the world was Trevor Burgess of C1 Bank in Florida.
Nevertheless, there is still a great deal of work to do in the industry to advance the equality and presence of LGBTQ individuals in the banking industry despite the progress made. More than half of all LGBT corporate employees are still closeted at work, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The organization also found in a 2012 study that 81% of non-LGBT workers agree that gays and lesbians 'should not have to hide who they are' in regular conversations about their social lives. Yet fewer than half of those respondents said they'd feel comfortable hearing LGBT colleagues talk about dating, and over 70% said "it is unprofessional" to talk about sexual orientations or gender identities in the workplace.
We have identified a large number of LGBTQ bankers from around the world. They hail from France, Canada, Great Britain, Malta, Colombia, the United States, Switzerland, and Denmark. Read on for their fascinating biographies:
- Mike Anderson, Great Britain, Coutts & Co.
- Cindy Armine-Klein, United States, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Citigroup
- Richard Beaven, Great Britain, Lloyds Banking Group
- Renee Brown, United States, Wells Fargo Bank
- Trevor Burgess, United States, C1 Bank
- Paul Cadario, Canada, World Bank
- Marge Connelly, Great Britain, Barclays Bank
- Audrey Connolly, Great Britain, Lloyds Banking Group
- Dan Crisp, United States, BNY Mellon Bank
- Kurt Dahl, United States, Harris Bank
- Jacqueline Davies, Great Britain, Financial Conduct Authority
- Bill Donius, United States, Pulaski Bank
- Joseph Evangelisti, United States, JP Morgan Chase
- Paul Flowers, Great Britain, Co-Op Bank
- John Baptist Francia, Malta, National Bank of Malta
- Shelley Freeman, United States, Wells Fargo Bank
- Stacey Friedman, United States, JP Morgan
- Tim Hailes, Great Britain, JP Morgan
- Alexander Hamilton, United States, Secretary of the Treasury
- Fred P. Hochberg, United States, Export Import Bank of the United States
- Julia Hoggett, Great Britain, Financial Conduct Authority
- Virgilio Barco Isakson, Colombia, Social Investment Bank
- Andi Keeling, Great Britain, Royal Bank of Scotland
- John Maynard Keynes, Great Britain, World Bank
- Jeffrey Krogh, Great Britain, BNP Paribas
- David Laws, Great Britain, JP Morgan
- Torben Lund, Denmark, National Bank of Denmark
- David Lyon, Great Britain, Tony Blair Associates
- Alison McFadyen, Great Britain, Standard Chartered Bank
- Mark McLane, United States, Barclays Bank
- Scott Mullin, Canada, TD Bank Financial
- Matt Petersen, Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
- Crawford Prentice, Great Britain, M&S Bank
- Ron Puccini, Canada, TD Bank Financial
- Sinclair Ross, Canada, Royal Bank of Canada
- Bradley Schmale, Canada, HSBC Bank of Canada
- Veit Schuhen, Switzerland, Citibank
- Todd Sears, United States, Schroeders
- Antonio Simoes, Great Britain, HSBC Bank
- Mark Stephanz, United States, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
- Gerry Stone, United States, Bank of America
- Robert Taylor, Great Britain, Coutts & Co.
- Philippe Villin, France, Lehman Brothers
- Anthony Watson, Great Britain, Barclays Bank
- Peter Zorn, Great Britain, Deutsche Bank
Further Reading/Research
- http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/178_88/gay-bankers-once-silent-speak-of-progress-and-hurdles-1058906-1.html
- http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/joris-luyendijk-banking-blog/2013/may/23/gay-finance-industry
- http://thefinancialbrand.com/28538/lgbt-bank-credit-union-marketing/
- http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/canadas-banks-take-pride-in-message-of-lgbt-support/article19344921/