The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the National Business Inclusion Consortium, presented the 2015 Financial Services Diversity Leadership Awards to three honorees in February. The evening began with a reception on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, followed by a dinner and awards ceremony. This year’s award recipients were honored for consistent commitment to strengthening diversity in the financial industry and guaranteeing that diverse segments had access to fairly compete. The NBIC is composed of Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, National Black Justice Coalition, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, US Business Leadership Network®, US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce and WEConnect International.

 Program or Initiative of the Year: Prudential Veterans Initiative

Prudential’s Veterans Initiative program coordinates companywide efforts to create sustainable programs for veterans transitioning out of active duty into civilian life. The focus is on strengthening and building relationships with military veteran service organizations, as well as related government agencies, to provide leadership in promoting education, training and employment for veterans entering the private sector. Components of the program include the Prudential Military Veterans Network, a business resource group; VETalent, a partnership with Workforce Opportunity Services; and Thought Leadership, which helps emphasize the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and financial well-being of veterans. Prudential’s veterans-related support totals $3 million annually. Since the program’s inception in 2008, the total number of veteran hires has grown 7 percent.

Financial Services Diversity Corporation of the Year: Wells Fargo & Co.


In the last 10 years, Wells Fargo & Co. has spent more than $8 billion with diverse suppliers. Last year, it officially inaugurated the NGLCC Supplier Innovation Center at NGLCC headquarters in Washington, D.C. The company has done similar work with other diverse communities, including the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Black Chambers Inc. Wells Fargo created the Enterprise-wide Diverse Leaders Program, a three-day leadership and professional development opportunity which increases leadership skills of high-potential team members from all diverse segments. Last year, the financial giant increased its spending with diverse suppliers by $100 million to 10 percent of controllable spending.


Outstanding Corporate Leader of the Year: Kent Harvey, senior vice president and chief financial officer, PG&E Corp., and senior vice president, financial services, Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

Kent Harvey has incorporated diversity and inclusion into all facets of his work throughout his career at San Francisco-based PG&E. In 2010, under his direction, the company became the first utility in California to use minority-owned investment banks and the first to include LGBT businesses in its supplier diversity program. With his support, PG&E spent $2.3 billion with diverse suppliers, or 42.1 percent of the company’s total procurement, in 2013. PG&E has nine employee resource groups totaling about 15 percent of its workforce. Harvey currently serves as the officer sponsor for the Pride Network, which focuses on engaging and supporting LGBT inclusion in PG&E’s workforce and business priorities. With Harvey’s support, PG&E was a strong advocate for California Assembly Bill 1678, which updated the California Public Utilities Code to include LGBT in how it defines supplier diversity. v

From left: Chance Mitchell, NGLCC; Regina Edwards, Wells Fargo; Kristen Hickey, PG&E Corp, accepting on behalf of Kent M. Harvey; Josh Stoffregen, Prudential; and Justin Nelson, NGLCC