An interview with Commonwealth's first chief diversity officer

Scarlett Abraham Clarke says high-level diversity and inclusion role is key to driving organizational change.

FEB 06, 2021

By Cheryl Cole

Commonwealth Financial Network has appointed its first chief diversity and inclusion officer. Just six weeks into the role, Scarlett Abraham Clarke told DiversityQ about her career so far, what she hoped to achieve and why it was important to have buy-in at senior level.

Cheryl Cole: How did you become a D&I professional?

Scarlett Abraham Clarke: I joined my previous company, Bright Horizons, because of the work they had done on inclusion. Not just in what was written, but also in the behaviors on display. Like many D&I professionals, I started doing the work from the side of my desk. What I mean is that I made sure that I had a lens for consistency and one for equity in everything I did.

So I would regularly challenge my managers and employees to have the tough conversations, which often made people feel uncomfortable. Equally, it provided spaces for employees to get to know each other beyond the workplace.

I worked alongside so many great leaders and learned so much, and as a result, was promoted to lead the function for D&I.

CC: Why did you move to Commonwealth Financial Network?

SAC: I could see how serious they were about diversity and inclusion. Commonwealth started to focus on DE&I about two years ago, and have many 'champions'; but they'd never had a dedicated function or resource.

They understood early that even in the absence of a core team, they needed someone at a VP level to make a meaningful impact. This commitment to D&I was a huge selling point.

CC: Did the events of 2020, in the wake of George Floyd reinforce their decision?

SAC: Certainly. Commonwealth was very vocal and upfront about their feelings around the social and racial unrest. These events just confirmed to them that this was what they needed to be doing.

CC: What will you be focusing on initially?

SAC: Like many firms in the financial industry, there's an opportunity to shape what leadership representation looks like today.

Now is the time to evolve; therefore, we need to look at how we're hiring, developing and promoting internal talent to make sure that we're being inclusive.

Commonwealth has been so generous with different communities and wants to make a difference and be visible as an inclusive employer of choice. We need to foster diverse talent earlier and look at how we can engage high school and college students in the world of finance.

One of the initiatives that I'm focusing on is our internship program. It has relied on referrals for a long time. I'm building and providing different sources, strategic alliances and areas where we want to be looking for new talent.

Once they have been through the program, we need to keep our interns engaged with Commonwealth and look at how we tap into their networks and communities.

CC: What skill will you be drawing on the most in this new role?

SAC: This is a role that requires people to feel safe, to be able to share with me exactly how they're feeling, how uncomfortable, happy, in disagreement or onboard they are. I also want to know if they don't understand and something needs explaining further.

I need to gain trust; to create that safe space that ultimately will give me the credibility to influence them. I need to develop relationships quickly to start building the infrastructure that will support my work: creating employee resource groups, an inclusion council. I need to have the right people at my table to help mobilize the organization in the direction that we need to go. So, relationship building is going to be vital in building that trust.

CC: Why is equity, diversity, inclusion, so important to you?

SAC: It's very personal for me. I'm originally from the Dominican Republic and when I came to the States in February of '89, it was the first time that I knew I was different, or made to feel different and I struggled a bit. However, I took the opportunity to do whatever I could to acclimate.

Growing up, I felt like I was privileged by not feeling that I was excluded because of my race. But I did feel excluded as an adult. And there were a few experiences that were enraging, but they drove me to go into this work and make an impact.

People have a choice to either be angry and stay angry or be angry and on the side of making change. And that's the side that I'm on. I am an HR business partner by trade. So a lot of these experiences helped me to have more empathy.

CC: Given your proven track record, what would you say does and doesn't work when it comes to setting D&I strategies?

SAC: It would be easy for me to say, 'Here's what we're going to do, and how we're going to make this happen.' That's a mistake because context matters. Every organization is at a different place in their D&I journey. It's important I take the time and understand what D&I means to finance and the organization's bottom line.

A big mistake would be to try to solve something without enough details. I'm trying to understand how engaged our employees are across Commonwealth, and am putting together our first national annual employee experience survey.

This insight will inform what we are doing from an HR perspective and how it impacts the D&I work. It's possible that I'll put something together and six months down the line, we have to shift or be flexible.

Changing behaviors won't work without the highest buy-in from leadership. If our CEO and founder didn't truly believe in diversity, equity and inclusion and weren't investing their time, money and vulnerability, I would not have come to work for Commonwealth.

CC: What competencies do you think D&I professionals should have?

SAC: As I mentioned, you must build relationships and accept when something is not working. You need to bring functions and individuals together, helping them find common ground. That can come with strong business acumen. D&I professionals must understand the business they're supporting because that's what will serve as one of the best cases for diversity, equity and inclusion.

I'm never going to be able to say that we're done. I am always learning and looking for different resources to support me in my learning and development.

CC: What area of diversity do you think will be under the spotlight in 2021?

SAC: I hope the focus will be on inclusion. The biggest challenge is how people feel in terms of their sense of belonging in an organization. Are they genuinely bringing their whole selves? Or are they sitting in their cars for 10 to 15 minutes and thinking, 'What pieces of myself should I leave here? And what pieces should I bring into the office?' Organizations have an opportunity to create spaces where, even if it's just for those eight or nine hours a day that people are at work, that they can feel recognized and celebrated.

CC: Finally, do you have any tips to share with D&I professionals just starting their careers?

SAC: Data and numbers are important. You need employee stories to bring those numbers to life. Some will not ever have full empathy for what some other folks might be dealing with, because they haven't necessarily experienced it. But if you allow others to share their story, it becomes that much more personal. And we know that when something is personal, we will do whatever we need to do to make sure that we can impact it. You should be willing to bat for what you believe in, for the organization's values and mission, and for and how that relates to any social unrest that might exist. Take any stands you need to support employees.