It’s Impossible Not to Reach Out
June 5, 2020
Two years ago, I launched a mentoring group for undergraduate and early career women interested in the financial services industry. I had recently returned from another energizing visit to the annual Schwab IMPACT conference. There I met with a number of eager undergraduate students looking to gain insight and connections in our industry. In talking with the young women, in particular, I was struck by how many thought they were unlikely to pursue being a financial advisor and were looking to support roles in the industry. I decided I wanted find these young women and encourage them before they had made these compromising decisions.
BE ME (Believe, Envision, Mentor, Empower) today is an amazing group of young women from local universities and employers. They embody all that excites me about the future of our industry and I strive to encourage them, educate them, support them and prepare them for their place in our industry’s future. This is the group I try to support in my efforts to change our world, and this was my message to them as our nation struggles to face our very real failures:
It is impossible for me not to reach out and talk about the events of the past week. I am heartbroken and enraged at the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and Ahmaud Arberty and countless others. I am disappointed in myself and all of us as humans, as citizens and as Americans.
I am also ashamed by the stubbornly persistent inequality across our society in terms of opportunity and financial success. We created BE ME to encourage and support all young women in the financial profession, in hopes of helping our profession from the inside; in hopes of taking action to increase the diversity and success of all young women. I know I can do more. We can do more.
As our world has turned to virtual interactions, our BE ME program can expand beyond local young women. If you would like to be a part of the group or know a young woman who would like to join us, please reach out.