JPMorgan Chase CEO Maintains Commitment To Diversity, Says It Makes For Good Business

Dimon explained that it just makes sense for companies like JPMorganChase to target a diverse applicant pool.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and other CEOs reassured investors at a Council of Institutional Investors conference in Brooklyn, New York, earlier this month that they were still committed to diversity, equity and inclusion despite recent challenges from conservative activists.

“It’s good for business; it’s morally right; we’re quite good at it; we’re successful,” Dimon said, according to Fortune.

He added that a “red-blooded, full-throated American” shouldn’t get in the way of intelligent business. “I’m not interested in other people pointing fingers. I’m not ‘woke’ at all.”

In addition to Dimon, Mastercard Inc. Chief Administrative Officer Tim Murphy said that his company, which operates in the payment services sector, is “committed to creating a global corporate environment where all people are treated equally and fairly and have equal access to opportunities and advancement.”

Murphy said “that helps bring great talent in and retain it here.” He added that it is important to cultivate “different perspectives that inform the ideas we bring to life.”

Although diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives may not be in danger from the perspective of creating good business, they are currently rebranding in corporate America. Although companies are not backing away from making sure they have a workforce that is at least representative of the “melting pot” that is America, they are being much less upfront about it, in contrast to the post-George Floyd announcements of 2020.

A significant reason for this cautious approach is groups like Stephen Miller’s America First Legal bring lawsuits against any language or programs that they believe have the potential to be found to be discriminatory against white people. As a result, some companies have adjusted the language and programs they had instituted to foster more Black applicants and applicants of color in historically homogenous applicant pools.

“There are companies that are committed to this body of work, and you might not be hearing about it on a flashy webpage,” said Joanna Colosimo, vice president of workforce equity and compliance strategy at DCI Consulting.

However, according to Portia Allen-Kyle, chief advisor at Color of Change and a former senior advisor for equity, policy and stakeholder engagement at the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Civil Rights, companies who treat their commitments to diversity like a water faucet are problematic.

“(Companies) turning on and off their commitments so quickly makes plain that that commitment wasn’t really there in the first place.” Allen-Kyle said. “The worst thing that can happen is for folks to be silent and to give the impression that initiatives such as these are not worthwhile.”