St. Louis Fed Receives Award in Recognition of Commitment to Equality

The St. Louis Fed has received another honor to recognize the organization’s inclusive culture. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has honored the Bank with the 2017 Best Places to Work Corporate Equality Index Award. The Bank received a perfect score of 100 in the Corporate Equality Index, known as the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees.

The award follows other recent honors for the Bank, including being named the No. 1 Top Workplace in St. Louis by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and receiving special recognition from the group PROMO (Promoting Equality for All Missourians).

“The Corporate Equality Index Award is another honor that recognizes our diverse and inclusive environment,” said First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Sapenaro.  He is also the executive sponsor of the Bank’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies’ Partnership (LGBTAP).

Appreciation of that commitment was expressed by Jim Swimm, an administrative assistant in the Supervision Division and a member of the LGBTAP.

“It is monumentally affirming when one feels comfortable in bringing your whole self to the workplace, and this prestigious distinction publicly highlights the Bank’s commitment to establishing an inclusive culture that makes that possible,” Swimm said.  

In the 2017 edition of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (the 15^th year of the index), a record 517 businesses achieved a top rating of 100 percent, including 12 of the Top 20 Fortune-ranked businesses. In all, 2,106 U.S. employers received invitations to take part in the survey. Of that number, 887 were officially rated by the HRC.

The rating criteria for the 2017 Corporate Equality Index included:

1. Equal employment opportunity (35 points)
2. Employment benefits (30 points)
3. Organizational LGBTQ competency (20 points)
4. Public engagement (15 points)

The St. Louis Fed is committed to building an inclusive workplace, where employees’ differences—in age, gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, as well as in cultural traditions, religion, life experiences, education and socioeconomic backgrounds—are recognized as strengths. At the St. Louis Fed, employee resource groups are led by employees and membership is voluntary.  They are made up of individuals with common interests or shared characteristics. Employee resource groups support and develop their members and link objectives to an organizational business goal. They include:

• African-American Council of Talented, Innovative and Visionary Employees: AACTIVE supports the African-American community at the Bank.
• Asian Employee Resource Group: AERG supports the Asian community at the Bank.
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies' Partnership: LGBTAP supports LGBT employees and their allies at the Bank.
• Valuing, Inspiring, Empowering Women: VIEW supports women at the Bank by creating awareness of gender-related issues—enhancing professional development and leadership capabilities.
• Serving, Educating, Reaching Veteran Employees: SERVE educates, supports and provides resources benefiting veterans and the Eighth District by promoting mentorship.