TORONTO, March 8,
2023 /CNW/ - This International Women's Day,
Scotiabank is renewing its support for Dress for Success Canada
Foundation and its Professional Women's
Group (PWG) program with a $900,000 investment over three years. This
investment is part of ScotiaRISE, the Bank's 10-year $500
million initiative to promote economic resilience among
disadvantaged groups.
Today's announcement builds on a $400,000 donation to the program in November 2021, which supported more than 700
women and non-binary individuals at eight offices throughout the
country and provided them with the tools and network to help
improve their career paths.
Scotiabank's renewed investment in Dress for Success Canada
Foundation will deliver enhanced funding to 13 Dress for Success
offices across the country to empower 3,600 women and non-binary
individuals to achieve economic independence. The contribution to
the PWG program will help connect individuals, regardless of
socioeconomic position, to networking and mentorship opportunities
that will help advance their careers and build financial
stability.
"As a member of the Board of Directors at Dress for Success
Worldwide and on behalf of Scotiabank, I am delighted that we will
build on our partnership with the Dress for Success Canada
Foundation and work together on its mission to empower women and
non-binary individuals to achieve economic independence," said
Loretta Marcoccia, EVP and Chief
Operating Officer for Global Banking and Markets (GBM) at
Scotiabank and Executive Sponsor of The Scotiabank Women Initiative
for GBM. "Like The Scotiabank Women Initiative, the Bank's
involvement in the PWG program is an excellent extension of our
support for women to help them pursue their best professional and
financial futures."
"Scotiabank's continued investment in our work across the
country demonstrates their ongoing commitment to, and passion for,
ensuring women and non-binary individuals have access to the
programs and supports needed to thrive in work and life," said
Catherine Curtis, CEO of Dress for
Success Foundation. "Our Professional/Working Women's Groups ensure
women and non-binary individuals can harness the power of
networking and evidence-based content to advance their professional
trajectories and build financial security, financial independence,
and economic power. This creates a ripple effect - individuals who
need it most, find the support they need to be fully employed,
independent social and economic contributors for the development of
their families, communities, and country."
Women make up 54 percent of the Scotiabank global workforce, and
the Bank celebrates the many achievements of talented Scotiabank
women, customers and clients across its footprint, showing up for
women not just today, but every day of the year. The Bank's
commitment to prioritize equality and the inclusion of women
includes:
- The identification, development and advancement of women in all
areas and levels of our business.
-
- Scotiabank enacts gender-specific inclusion through various
initiatives to drive the achievement of a strong talent pool,
including eliminating biases in the recruitment and promotion
processes and setting aspirational targets at the Vice President,
and above, level.
-
- Throughout the year, Scotiabank hosts various women-only campus
recruiting events for all business lines.
- In 2022, 52 percent of all interns/co-ops in Canada, and 57 per cent of all new grad
rotational program associates, self identified as women.
- Increasing the representation of women in senior leadership
roles where 42 per cent of Scotiabank Vice Presidents and above in
Canada are women, a growth of 11
per cent since 2013, and 38 per cent of Vice Presidents and above
globally.
-
- In 2022, globally, 42 per cent of those appointed to VP and SVP
roles in the bank were women, and an additional 44 per cent of
those appointed to Senior Manager and Director roles were
women.
- In 2023, Scotiabank will introduce a new enhanced offering for
employees in Canada that includes
eight fully paid weeks for all parents welcoming a new child and
eight additional fully paid weeks for parents who have given
birth.
-
- This new standard has been introduced in Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas, Cayman
Islands and Turks & Caicos and others.
- By 2025, this new standard will be implemented for Scotiabank
employees in 24 countries across the Bank's footprint including
Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru
and more.
- The Scotiabank Women Initiative® which is a comprehensive
program that provides unbiased access to capital and tailored
solutions, specialized education and mentorship and advisory
services to women entrepreneurs, investors and leaders, to increase
economic and professional opportunities now and in the
future.
-
- Since 2018, the program has grown tremendously, expanding to
all four business lines, offering guidance and support to women in
business, those looking to move up in their careers and manage
their wealth.
- The program has also expanded to support women entrepreneurs in
Jamaica, Costa Rica and Chile. Today, on the one-year anniversary of
the program's expansion to Costa
Rica, the program is continuing its expansion to
Peru to further support women
entrepreneurs.
- In Canada, we have deployed
over $5.9 billion in capital to
women-owned and women-led businesses, supported more than 70 women
in their career journeys and path to board governance, and helped
over 2,400 women and their families manage their wealth during
major life transitions.
*Participation in The Scotiabank Women Initiative or any
program-related event does not constitute advice or an offer or
commitment by Scotiabank to provide any financial products or
services.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our
purpose: "for every future", we help our customers, their families
and their communities achieve success through a broad range of
advice, products and services, including personal and commercial
banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and
investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of over 90,000
employees and assets of over $1.3 trillion (as
at January 31, 2023), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For
more information, please
visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter
@Scotiabank.
About Dress for Success
Dress for Success empowers women and non-binary individuals to
achieve economic independence through pre-employment and
job-retention programs, including providing a network of support,
professional attire, and professional development tools to help
women and non-binary individuals thrive in work and life. The Dress
for Success Canada Foundation supports this work across 13 Dress
for Success affiliate locations coast-to-coast by helping to
mobilize funding to local affiliates and coordinate projects of
national scope. For more information, please
visit https://dressforsuccesscanadafoundation.org.
SOURCE Scotiabank