Creating a culture where our employees feel comfortable being their authentic selves is a high priority for us. As with most relationships, we believe that actions speak louder than words, which is why we make a concerted effort to demonstrate our commitment by “walking the walk.” Some of the diversity, equity and inclusion milestones we’re proudest of are developing a youth financial literacy program called Dollar Sense, publishing an LGBTQ+ Benefits Guide and designing a training program to help our planners better meet the needs of demographic groups outside their own.

 
We’re happy to report that since implementing these and other DE&I initiatives, we’ve seen a big bump on the Employment Engagement Survey. In 2021, 78% of employees answered the statement, “I feel comfortable being myself at work” in the affirmative. By 2023, that number had increased to 83%. We’ve also increased our Disability Equality Index score from 30/100 in 2021 to 80/100 in 2023 and our Corporate Equality Index score from 50/100 in 2021 to 90/100 in 2023. While there’s still lots on our to-do list, we’re encouraged to see our efforts already making a difference.