MADISON, Wis.—Summit Credit Union President and CEO Kim Sponem has signed on with the CEO Action Pledge for Diversity and Inclusion.
The CEO Action Pledge, now in its fourth year, has nearly 2,000 business leaders as signatories, and is the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace in the United States, the credit union.
Nearly 50 other Wisconsin CEOs have also signed the pledge.
According to the credit union, the pledge represents Summit’s recognition that diversity and inclusion are urgent issues in society.
“For almost a decade Summit has worked on making diversity and inclusion a key focus. With this pledge, we reinforce our continued effort,” said Sponem.
Four Commitments
By signing, Sponem and Summit said they agreed to uphold the pledge’s four commitments:
- To make the workplace a trusting place to have complex, and sometimes difficult, conversations about diversity and inclusion
- To implement and expand unconscious bias education
- To share best—and unsuccessful—practices for diversity and inclusion
- To create and share strategic inclusion and diversity plans with its board of directors
Other Initiatives
Summit Credit Union said it has also worked on several innovative DEI initiatives, including:
- Employee development opportunities, such as creating a “Diversity is our Strength” floating holiday to encourage self-directed learning about diverse communities
- Four Employee Resource Groups, including Summit Employees Empowering Diversity and Summit Pride & Inclusion Network, that engage employees in contributing to the company’s inclusive practices
- “Conversation Circles” in which employees discuss topics such as unconscious bias and microaggressions in a safe atmosphere.
The $4.8-billion Summit Credit Union has more than 218,000 members and 747 employees.
For info: https://www.summitcreditunion.com/about/giving-back.