Berkshire Bank included in annual rating on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s assessment of LGBTQ+ workplace equality
Vermont Business Magazine Berkshire Bank, a leading community bank with financial centers in New England and New York and branches in southern Vermont, has been included on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Berkshire Bank joins the ranks of 1,384 major U.S. businesses that were also ranked in the 2023-2024 CEI.
“Berkshire Bank is proud to be recognized and listed once again in the Corporate Equality Index,” said Gary Levante, senior vice president, corporate responsibility. “The ranking illustrates our continued strong commitment to creating an ecosystem of inclusion and equity for our employees, customers and communities.”
“As a Berkshire Bank employee and co-chair of Berkshire Bank’s Pride Employee Resource Group, I am thrilled to see my employer included on this prestigious equality index for workplace inclusion for the betterment of the LGBTQ+ employees, and the company as a whole,” said Vanessa Pesa, assistant vice president, marketing compliance and project officer.
“For well over two decades, businesses have played an important role in furthering LGBTQ+ equality by centering employee needs and voices when it comes to workplace inclusion. While there is much more work to be done, year-over-year growth in CEI participation is evidence of a business community that recognizes the responsibility and value in upholding equity and inclusion,” said RaShawn “Shawnie” Hawkins, Human Rights Campaign senior director of workplace equality. “Our goal at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is to work in a spirit of partnership with companies, providing educational resources and leading benchmarking, and collaborating on ways for businesses to support the LGBTQ+ community at a time when we face unprecedented legislative attacks, heightened anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and physical violence. The CEI is an ever-evolving tool – a blueprint that companies can use to show up more effectively in supporting their LGBTQ+ employees and their families.”
The results of the 2023-2024 CEI showcase how U.S.-based companies are promoting LGBTQ+ friendly workplace policies in the U.S. and abroad. The first year of the CEI included 319 participants, and the 2023-2024 CEI now includes 1,384 participants; further demonstrating the tremendous trajectory of the CEI, a record-breaking 1,340 businesses have non-discrimination protections specific to gender identity, up from just 17 in 2002. These critical non-discrimination protections cover 21 million employees in the U.S. and around the globe.
The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to over 20 million U.S. workers and an additional 18 million outside of the U.S. Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.
The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:
● Non-discrimination policies across business entities;
● Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families;
● Supporting an inclusive culture; and,
● Corporate social responsibility.
The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.
About Berkshire Bank
Berkshire Bank, founded in 1846, is becoming a high-performing, relationship-driven community-focused bank. It empowers the financial potential of its stakeholders by making banking available where, when and how it’s needed through an uncompromising focus on exceptional customer service, digital banking, and positive community impact. Providing a wide range of financial solutions through its consumer banking, commercial banking and wealth management divisions, the bank has approximately $12.1 billion in assets and a community-based footprint of nearly 100 financial centers in Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Headquartered in Boston, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE: BHLB) is the parent of Berkshire Bank. Named one of America’s Most Trusted Companies by Newsweek and America’s Best Midsize Employers by Forbes, Berkshire is also listed in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. To learn more, visit www.berkshirebank.com or follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and LinkedIn.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public’s understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work.
Source: 12.4.2023. Boston - Berkshire Bank
