TORONTO, July 17, 2020 /CNW/ - Sun Life stands for
equality, social change and justice to support under-represented
communities. We are actively removing systemic barriers that
negatively affect the lives of Black, Indigenous and People of
Colour.
"We're at an inflection point in society ─ there is a movement
to drive lasting change to address and eliminate systemic racism,"
said Dean Connor, President and CEO
of Sun Life. "At Sun Life, we're increasing our efforts to create
organizational and societal change. That includes engaging in
difficult conversations about race to create equal opportunity and
foster inclusion for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour at Sun
Life."
As a global industry leader committed to sustainability, Sun
Life has a responsibility to help create lasting change. Our action
plan, which includes an additional $1
million investment this year, focuses on three categories
where we can make a meaningful difference:
- Clients and Communities
- Talent and Culture
- Learning and Development
Clients and Communities
We are focused on creating an inclusive environment that not
only supports our employees in all their diversity but also
reflects our Clients and communities, allowing us to better serve
their unique cultures and needs.
- We have signed on to the goals in the BlackNorth Initiative,
led by the Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black
Systemic Racism, to help remove systemic barriers that negatively
affect the lives of Black Canadians.
- Aligned with our Purpose, we will fund community groups,
including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., the
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History &
Culture in Washington, D.C. and
the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. These organizations support
under-represented communities, with an emphasis on Black/African
American coalitions and social justice reform.
- At Sun Life we recognize the diversity of our marketplace and
encourage the inclusion of diverse suppliers as part of our
competitive bidding process. We will continue to focus on
increasing our relationships with vendors, suppliers and small
businesses owned by Black, Indigenous, People of Colour and
women.
Talent and Culture
We are embedding a culture where employees see themselves
reflected at all levels across the company, and feel included and
engaged.
- Sun Life is intensifying our goal to have 25% of
under-represented minorities at the senior leader level within five
years - with specific representation objectives for Black,
Indigenous and People of Colour where we are particularly lagging.
We will also set goals for representation below the senior leader
level for the same timeframe.
- We established our enterprise-wide Diversity & Inclusion
Council in 2018. We are bolstering those efforts through new
Canadian and U.S. Task Forces to accelerate our Diversity &
Inclusion strategies, as well as measure and communicate
outcomes.
- Of the 300 students hired in North
America this year at Sun Life, over a quarter self-reported
as ethnically diverse. Going forward, we will focus on
strengthening career paths and opportunities for diverse
students.
Learning and Development
Sun Life is equipping our leaders and employees with knowledge,
information and safe spaces to get comfortable engaging in
uncomfortable conversations about race and racial injustice. These
are important conversations, which will lead to greater, inclusive
outcomes.
- We are starting at the top with intensive diversity training
for our Executive Team.
- Sun Life is holding internal learning forums about racism,
racial diversity and inclusion. We've created safe spaces for our
employees to share their personal stories, experiences, insights
and perspectives.
- We have increased funding for our employee inclusion networks,
including Mosaic in Canada and the
Black Excellence Alliance (BEA) in the
United States, to facilitate the important work they
do.
- Building on our existing diversity learning programs, we have
added a new digital learning platform to help teams learn how to
talk meaningfully about diversity and build inclusive behaviours
and capabilities.
As outlined in Sun Life's 2019 Sustainability Report, our
efforts in Diversity and Inclusion are directly aligned with our
Purpose, our business strategy and our ultimate success as a
company.
Together, we can and will do
better.
About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international financial services
organization providing insurance, wealth and asset management
solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun Life has
operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United
States, the United Kingdom,
Ireland, Hong Kong, the
Philippines, Japan,
Indonesia, India, China,
Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March
31, 2020, Sun Life had total assets under management of
$1,023 billion. For more information,
please visit www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New
York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the
ticker symbol SLF.
Note to editors: All figures in Canadian
dollars
Media Relations
Contact:
|
Investor Relations
Contact:
|
Rajani
Kamath
|
Leigh
Chalmers
|
Assistant
Vice-President
|
Senior
Vice-President, Head of Investor
|
Corporate
Communications
|
Relations &
Capital Management
|
T.
416-979-6070
|
T.
647-256-8201
|
rajani.kamath@sunlife.com
|
investor_relations@sunlife.com
|
SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc.