Learn More About the Women in Banking Conference

S&T Bank cultivates a welcoming environment that houses a diverse workforce which is constantly evolving for the betterment of our employees, customers, shareholders, and community. We have an obligation to listen, adapt and act with purpose to achieve and maintain an inclusive and equitable atmosphere.  We collectively promote unity, understanding, and cooperation across the organization.

We encourage open dialogue and discussion through training and education, as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) surveys to our colleagues that provide an opportunity to listen and act. We support initiatives such as the First Time Homebuyer program and financial wellness programs to provide financial education and solutions to a broad audience.  Our Community Reinvestment Act efforts, and Fair Lending standards promote financial opportunity for individuals across our footprint.

Offering Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) at S&T provides another avenue for dialogue, learning, and volunteering to help veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those in need across our local communities.  Additionally, our leadership ERG offers guidance in hiring, employee development, promotions, mentoring and volunteer opportunities to empower our current and future leaders.

At S&T, we will always endeavor to do better and to be better. We are people focused and are rooted in trust. We continuously strive to embody the values we hold dear and have the utmost respect for all people whom we encounter or do business with. We recognize that each person has a unique story and background, and that diversity of perspective is critical to our success.

Our differences are not obstacles, but rather opportunities for learning, growth, and expanded perspective.

Best regards,
Chris

In my community engagement and involvement efforts, I see how vital it is for organizations to reflect the communities that they serve; as well as; the importance of companies working to create an inclusive environment where everyone thrives. I have been blessed to work for such an amazing organization and I want to see more people from diverse backgrounds like myself enjoy the same opportunities.

For several years now, I have provided financial literacy education to students, minority small business owners and individuals. I realize that many do not have access to proper tools that can help them succeed financially. Helping others access these tools and education quickly became a passion of mine and my belief is that financially healthy individuals and businesses create strong customers and communities.

I share my passion with S&T leadership about how we can move our organization forward towards more Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I).  We are making progress by conducting various DE&I initiatives that allow us to create a more diverse and inclusive environment as well as connect us at a deeper level with the communities that we serve as we expand into new markets.

The challenging events of 2020 and 2021 created a renewed focus on ensuring that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are a top focus both nationally and globally. An opportunity arose and a new position was created in the summer of 2021 for me to work in collaboration with the employee services leadership and line of business partners to support DE&I strategies and initiatives for our organization. Since then, we have conducted various DE&I educational webinars for our employees, connected with our advisory boards to share our vision and solicit their support to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce, examined opportunities to work with our market leadership to help create a more diverse advisory board, created a DE&I internal committee with the support of our CEO, Chris McComish as the initiative sponsor and much more.

Through employee education, board education and development, community outreach and financial education and the examination of our hiring practices, we are working together to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that reflects the distinct communities in our operational footprint. Our differences are our strength. Together we make progress as a team and for our communities as a whole.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford

For 2023, S&T plans to launch our new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion scholarship program whereby (5)- $1,000.00 scholarships will be awarded in June 2023. Selected individuals will be awarded the scholarships based on their desire and interest to pursue a college degree in a business-related field with a strong interest to build a lasting career in the Banking industry.  This is the Bank’s commitment to building a stronger future in the financial services industry in communities of the currently underserved.

I believe that our 2022 S&T Commemorates Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) series was one of the most impactful efforts at the Bank from a multi-dimensional cultural, inclusive and business perspective. The viewership, participation and feedback related to the 2022 S&T Commemorates webinar series was incredible, thanks to all of our employees who expressed interest in new subject matter and education related to a variety of topics. We shared education and discussion on Black History Month, Women’s History, and the topics also included Asian Pacific Islander Heritage which I had the honor of sponsoring. Thank you to the nearly 170 employees that participated in this session. University of Pittsburgh’s, Dr. Cook, offered background related to the geography, culture and rich history of the entire Asian and Pacific region. All of these topics further our interest and planning around DE&I in addition to building upon our rich history of talent development.

In 2021, we conducted two DE&I webinars, including a Juneteenth presentation by Oronde Sharif from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Hispanic Heritage Month Presentation by Melanie Malloy Boyer from the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.