At the nation’s second-largest bank, Michelle Avan has a big new job with a title befitting its broad scope: senior vice president and head of global women’s and under-represented talent strategy, global human sesources. In her role, Avan is responsible for the comprehensive strategy and efforts that Bank of America will use throughout the company to attract, hire, retain, develop and advance talent in every area of the financial giant’s business. “This is a big enterprise, and there will be a lot of work to do,” said Avan, a 23-year veteran of Merrill Lynch who most recently oversaw regulatory, financial and reputational risk for a nine-state Western region that is home to 2,500 advisers in 98 offices. “We recognize that the effort will be a marathon, not a sprint, and we’ll all be working collectively toward the end goal, which is a workforce reflective of the communities we serve, with everyone feeling welcome to bring their authentic self to work.”
Avan said a major reason she was appointed to her current position was because she was involved in local DEI efforts at Merrill Lynch. That led to working with others in the firm nationally. “Advisers would call me for advice on how to make their teams more diverse because they didn’t know how to do it or didn’t know who else to ask for help. We’re going to provide that help because we can’t expect people to do it alone,” she said.
— Evan Cooper
Editor’s note: Tragically, Michelle Avan was found dead in her home on August 5. InvestmentNews extends its deepest sympathies to her family.