FirstBank
Prosper CO’s focus on jobs, entrepreneurship, and housing aligns with many initiatives FirstBank has taken to increase diversity in both the company’s workforce and customer base. First and foremost, FirstBank, a member of the Prosper CO Leadership Council, is a community bank whose mission is, “Banking for Good for its Customers, Communities, & Employees.” A key part of this mission is to ensure services and staff meet the community’s needs.
One way that FirstBank is prioritizing diversity is through the company’s Multicultural Banking Initiative, which intentionally provides banking to communities that have been traditionally excluded from banking and lending. Through this initiative, more individuals can access capital, which helps close the racial wealth gap and increase homeownership.
The company also launched its Multicultural Banking Center in 2020, which serves as a hub for all branch locations and joins the bank’s growing list of Asian and Spanish Banking Centers.
“The world is changing. If you stay the same, you’re not able to adapt and change to meet the needs of an ever-evolving economy and community.”
– Shannon Jones, President of Human Resources
Customers at these locations can receive services in their native language, including Spanish, Chinese Cantonese, Chinese Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese and Ethiopian dialects. These centers not only assist individuals for whom English is not their first language in banking and lending, but provide overall financial literacy resources and assistance.
Offering these services is only possible with a diverse staff that reflects the community and can serve those individuals in a culturally competent way. FirstBank knows that diversity of thought, race, age, gender, and more allows organizations to grow and thrive. To hire and retain a diverse staff, FirstBank specifically recruits positions for bilingual candidates, partners with various community organizations to promote their job postings, and offers training and support within their Business Development Groups, which target communities that are traditionally underrepresented in banking.
Companies that want to prioritize diversity in hiring can look to strategies FirstBank has enacted to both hire and retain a workforce representative of the communities they serve.