“We have a responsibility to be pulling up our respective communities if we want to have a sustainable, growing wealth management industry that represents the changing face of wealth,” said Myah Irick, private wealth manager at the Irick Group – Merrill Private Wealth Management in Pittsburgh.
She and her team put a lot of energy into paying it forward. For example, they conduct workshops for universities, corporations and the public on financial literacy, women-focused financial empowerment, impact investing and tips for parents on talking to children about money.
Last October, the firm hosted a four-part boot camp for 50 underrepresented startup founders across the U.S., coaching them on growing their businesses while also protecting their own personal wealth.
The firm promotes impact investing as a way to engage its clients with DEI. For example, Irick Group has developed an equality and inclusion investment strategy to focus on companies that pay employees fairly and have diverse boards.
Within Bank of America, Irick co-founded and launched a regional Black Professional Group. Her team has also coached leaders on both the regional and national levels on recruiting, retaining and growing diverse talent and building multigenerational, diverse teams.
Leaders should create an environment where people can show up as their authentic selves and feel comfortable to ask questions, and even address injustice, she said.
Contact Cynthia Bowman, chief diversity & inclusion and talent acquisition officer for Bank of America, at cynthia.bowman@bofa.com to learn more about its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.