It’s all about lifting up others

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Those who rise to positions of responsibility have an obligation to help others.

That is a message shared, in different ways, by each speaker in the all-star lineup at the Most Powerful Women in Banking gala awards celebration on Oct. 28.

To reinforce her point about women supporting other women and dispel the persistent myth that this is rare, newly appointed Citigroup Chief Executive Jane Fraser aimed to illustrate.

Fraser concluded her keynote address — which had attendees on their feet for a sustained standing ovation — by calling three female leaders from other institutions to the stage as examples of the many women who champion the effort to bring more diversity to senior roles in the industry.

She singled out KeyCorp’s Amy Brady, Bank of New York’s Paulette Mullings Bradnock and HSBC’s Diane Reyes, asking them to join her on stage.

René Jones, the chairman and CEO of M&T Bank, who said, as a “girl dad” he is a fervent male ally, urged attendees to think of the power to lift up others not so much as an obligation but as an opportunity, as it makes sense not just on a personal level, but for business reasons.

“Something, or someone, has brought each of us here tonight and lifted us up,” said Jones, who is one of just a few African American CEOs at a Fortune 500 company.

“My challenge to you is to think of just one person, or one program, or one situation, that might’ve lifted you up, widened your aperture, opened up your possibilities, and then to feel that same sense of responsibility, and go out there tomorrow and lift up someone else.”

Maria Contreras-Sweet, who led the U.S. Small Business Administration under President Obama and now serves of the board for Zions Bancorp., drew laughter with a quip in her speech.

As she talked about her journey from being a 5-year-old Mexican immigrant to working with the White House to help small businesses, she recalled her grandmother encouraging her to work hard in America.

“I know you’ll be able to work in an office and be a secretary,” her grandmother told her.

“Little did she know that I would hold office and be a Cabinet Secretary,” said Contreras-Sweet, who was the first Latina Cabinet secretary in the United States.

Ernie Johannson, the group head of personal and business banking for BMO Financial, lauded the industry for how it stepped up over the past 20 months amid the pandemic, racial injustice and climate disasters. Her point was about the capacity for banks to be a powerful force for good in the world on many fronts.

“We all stood together not just to see racial and social injustice for what it was, but with new eyes to do something about it,” Johannson said. “We committed our companies to have deeper impact on our communities and our planet.”

Attendees, who celebrated together for the first time in two years, were pleased to toast to that as they capped off the inspiring evening with a post-gala reception.