American Express Chief Colleague Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Talent Officer Sonia Cargan has been named among the most influential leaders in the DE&I space by The HR Digest in their July 2022 issue.

In her role, Sonia leads the company’s global DE&I I DE&I initiatives focused on promoting an inclusive culture throughout the colleague experience and ensuring that American Express remains an employer of choice among top diverse talent. Sonia also leads enterprise talent management, learning, development, and performance management strategies and works closely with the company’s CEO and Executive Committee to drive meaningful change across the talent life cycle and foster a culture of belonging.

A colleague of the company for over 25 years, Cargan was told early in her career that “if you are in a room and you have been invited to participate, it is your responsibility to use your voice.” Since then she has shown up each day as a driver of change. While excited about the progress the company has made to date, Cargan makes clear there is more work to do.

“Creating a more sustainable and equitable future for all is a transformational journey—one of continuous learning, growth, and progress.  We have to be committed to our journey with open ears and eyes to learn and enhance as we go,” says Cargan. “DE&I needs to be clearly mapped with the company’s culture and vision and be driven through the lens of the company’s strategy. To drive changes successfully, DE&I needs to be everyone’s responsibility across the company.”

See related article: American Express Issues Inaugural $1 Billion ESG Bond

In an interview with The HR Digest, Cargan outlined  some key strategies companies can act on to drive meaningful DE&I efforts, including:

•  Create a holistic strategy. Words are powerful and actions are important, but when these are part of a holistic strategy, that’s when meaningful and sustainable impact really happens. At American Express, our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) efforts are a fundamental part of our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy, which takes a holistic view of the many ways the company responsibly backs our key stakeholders. The mission driving our ESG strategy is to back people and businesses to thrive and create equitable, resilient, and sustainable communities globally. DE&I is one of the three core pillars of our ESG strategy.
• Be transparent and seek feedback. Through transparency, we hold ourselves accountable and not only stand by our words but put them into action. Last spring, we published our full US workforce EEO-1 data (a mandatory annual data collection that requires all private sector employers with 100 or more employees meeting certain criteria, to submit demographic workforce data, including data by race/ethnicity, sex and job categories)  in our DE&I Progress Report. Additionally, in our effort to provide greater transparency, we also disclosed recruitment, retention, and hiring data in our ESG and inaugural DE&I reports published last fall. Each year, we conduct an annual Colleague Experience Survey to better understand colleagues’ perspectives and needs. Our Board of Directors and senior management review the results and action plans. Feedback from our colleagues suggests that they feel valued and agree that we have their backs.

To read Cargan’s full interview on The HR Digest, visit here.

Source: American Express