The American College Sponsors First National Summit on Diversity in Financial Services

BRYN MAWR, Pa., Aug. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The financial services industry needs to increase the level of minority representation in senior management and mid-level management positions.  According to the most recent data gathered by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, white males hold approximately 64 percent of the senior management positions available in the financial services industry.  Minorities are underrepresented with only 2.8 percent of senior management positions being held by African-Americans, 3 percent being held by Hispanics and 3.5 percent being held by Asian-Americans.  

In an effort to address this situation, The American College, the nation's premier financial services educator, is sponsoring the first national Summit on Diversity in Financial Services this November.  This important forum, limited to 80 participants, will allow leaders interested in recruiting and retaining more talent from the African-American, Latino, Asian, Women and LGBT markets to hear the latest thinking on diversity issues from national thought leaders including The American College's world-renowned faculty.  In addition, participants will have the opportunity to network and discuss best practices.

This event is being made possible by a generous grant from the PennMutual Life Insurance Company.  The robust two-day program will be held November 11-12, 2010 at the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel in Riviera Maya, outside of Cancun, Mexico.

"The financial services industry has an incredible opportunity to embrace the changing mosaic that is America.  How each company recruits and retains talent must change," notes Larry Barton, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of The American College.  "Top human resource and field leaders have few opportunities to share best practices about how they are succeeding in realigning their business models.  Important issues including language, advertising, HR strategies and even how we prepare conferences and client materials demand the attention of today's executive.  As America changes, we must be open to new ideas and learn from each other's best practices."

Presentations for this dynamic event include:

• The African-American Advisor:  Recruitment, Retention, Recharge!

Presenters: Thomas McLeary, CLU®, President, Endow Inc., and Gregory Jones, Director of Diversity, Northwestern Mutual.

• Beyond the Glass Ceiling: New Insight on Building a Strong Women's Network

Presenters: Debra Boblitt, CLF®, Senior Vice President, State Farm Insurance Companies, and Mary Quist-Newins, CLU®, ChFC®, CFP®, State Farm Chair in Women and Financial Services, The American College.

• Understanding the Gay and Lesbian Market: Helping Advisors Understand Cultural and Language Differences

Presenter: H. King McGlaughon, JD, CAP®, Chief Philanthropic Officer, Wells Fargo.

Attendees must be nominated by their companies to attend this important event.  To learn how to be nominated for the first National Summit on Diversity in Financial Services, please contact Mary Varner at (610) 526.1302 or by e-mail at [email protected]   Nominations end on September 20.

The American College is the nation's largest non-profit educational institution devoted to financial services.  Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has served as a valued business partner to banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and others for over 83 years.  The American College's faculty represents some of the financial services industry's foremost thought leaders.  For more information, visit TheAmericanCollege.edu.

SOURCE The American College