Human Resources is where responsibility for people and culture lies, and where I have the opportunity to make a difference at BlackRock. Learn how the Talent Acquisition function within HR was able to pivot during the pandemic and work with an esteemed diversity organization to bring value to employees.
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The world we live in is rapidly changing, and for BlackRock to maintain a competitive advantage, we must grow and change with it. From our processes to our people, we continue to challenge ourselves by reexamining internal and external business practices to grow our firm. We rely on data to help drive business decisions, and most importantly, we don’t assume we know everything or have every answer.
We are innovators. In talent acquisition, that means constantly reinventing how we attract, engage, assess, hire and onboard talent. One way we do this is through external partnerships, which have been a significant catalyst for growth. They provide market insights to help inform our recruiting, platforms for us to engage with their membership, professional development opportunities for BlackRock employees, and access to talented candidates. They are instrumental in our engagement with diverse talent in niche businesses. And beyond being advocates for diversity themselves, they understand BlackRock’s principles and commitment to inclusion and diversity. These qualities make for great partners and serve as criteria for us when we seek to partner with new organizations.
The Robert Toigo Foundation, more commonly referred to as ‘The Toigo Foundation’ or simply ‘Toigo,’ meets all of our criteria. This organization’s mission is to “transform the performance of forward-thinking organizations through education and strategies that drive greater inclusion and the ongoing development and promotion of exceptional diverse leaders.” Their target audience and membership come from underrepresented demographics within finance: from corporations to entrepreneurship, and from post-graduate MBAs to senior professionals and executive management.
In other words, Toigo brings together institutions and individuals to facilitate a more diverse, inclusive and profitable future for all stakeholders. And BlackRock has proudly worked with this organization for more than 15 years, having built a long-lasting relationship that started in 2004.
Since partnering, we’ve have had the privilege of sponsoring and providing speakers for conferences and events, championing their Women in Leadership initiatives, recruiting experienced professionals from their network, and relying on them as a resource to support diverse professionals at our firm.
“In contrast to many other Wall Street firms, BlackRock continues to be an active proponent of inclusion and diversity – not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because the firm’s leadership recognizes that incorporating diverse talent produces superior results. BlackRock’s continued support of Toigo – in being an active sponsor and patron, encouraging staff to attend its events, and hiring its alumni – make me proud, as both an employee and former Toigo fellow.”
William Im, Vice President, Opportunistic Credit
In 2020, COVID-19 changed all our lives. It pushed BlackRock into a hiring pause and forced us to find new, creative ways to meet business gaps and partner with external organizations. Toigo was able to align with our shift to focus on internal talent. We worked with them to host two professional development workshops: Managing Visibility with Dr. Stacy Blake-Beard and The Future You with Joanna Bloor. Managing Visibility helped employees learn how to strike a balance between blending in and standing out and gain awareness around how we are perceived by others. Participants then developed a personal profile that balances their “internal” and “external” personas. The Future You motivated employees to take agency over how they talk about themselves and communicate their unique value proposition to peers and managers, and how to balance both their expertise and experience with future-focused potential.
Both workshops were designed to be interactive and introspective, helping BlackRock employees uncover or further develop skills they need to be successful in their roles.
In 2021, COVID-19 will continue to challenge us. Still, we will be resilient in the face adversity and find more ways to invest in our employees through innovative partnerships with organizations like Toigo.
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BlackRock’s Gives Network empowers employees to be a local force for good. BlackRock’s founders have always recognized the communities where we live and work as stakeholders of our business. And while Social Impact at BlackRock invests in scalable programs and interventions that break down economic barriers and build financial resilience to strengthen our communities globally, our employees are the agents of local change who shape and guide the firm’s footprint in each community where we operate. Employees have the opportunity to allocate BlackRock resources at the local level – whether it be banding together to channel support to communities during a crisis or directing funding and talent to address a distinct local need. To further empower and elevate employees as drivers of local impact, we recently launched the Gives Network – a global community of employees committed to making a positive impact in the places where we live and work. Each office Gives chapter is a springboard for colleagues to work collectively and address their community’s needs. Through volunteerism, fundraising and pro-bono support, the Gives Network leverages the power in numbers and combined creativity of BlackRock employees to unlock opportunities to amplify support for local nonprofits. The Gives Network builds on the foundation of the long-standing Gives Grants program, where employees can nominate any nonprofit tackling a local challenge to receive a grant. First brought to the firm through BlackRock’s acquisition of Barclays Global Investors in 2009, the Gives Grants program rapidly scaled across 22 countries and 16 U.S. states and territories. Each year, 33 employee-led Gives committees review applications submitted by nonprofits that are championed by employees in their local office and decide where to allocate funding. Local nonprofits funded through the Gives program reflect the causes that matter personally to employees in that office – from educational access to homelessness to food security. Bill Dunigan, a Director and Head of the U.S. Wealth Advisory (USWA) Leveraged Sales Desk in Boston and Atlanta, champions an organization called BUILD, which embeds an entrepreneurship curriculum into high schools across Boston to help address student drop-out rates. In addition to nominating BUILD for a Gives Grant, Bill has rallied a group of USWA employees to volunteer as mentors to the high school students regularly. Bill says that bringing the USWA team together around a purposeful initiative outside of work hours has helped him get to know the people on his team. “It was an experience that made BlackRock feel like a community,” Bill says. “I found out what was important to my colleagues, and we shared the experience of going out into the community where we worked and where our dollars and volunteer time made an impact.” Lisa Westermann, an Associate on the Business Management team in Munich, first came across the organization Die Arche when she was given a voluntary project to help them organize a Christmas party during her BlackRock internship. Since then, she has championed Die Arche, which provides social services and educational support to children in need. When Die Arche relocated to a new building, Lisa recruited a team of BlackRock volunteers to help with the moving process and nearly the entire Munich office joined in the effort. Last year, Lisa helped Die Arche navigate the Gives Grant process to receive funding to start an online homeschooling program to keep children engaged with school during the lockdown. “I never thought this would be such an integral part of my job. It feels enriching to know I’m connecting BlackRock with a local partner who can make an impact,” Lisa says. “I’m grateful to have been part of bridging the needs of Die Arche with the willingness to help of BlackRock employees.” Abhishek Dike, a Vice President in the Aladdin Product Group in Gurgaon, has championed the Akshaya Patra Foundation, which tackles child hunger in India through its school lunch program. Abhishek hosted meal-packing volunteer events at the Gurgaon office to benefit the organization. He describes the experience of employees coming together to pack hundreds of breakfast baskets for the children as one that fosters a sense of belonging and goodwill across the different teams and businesses. Head of USWA and Gives Network Global Executive Committee Sponsor Martin Small summed it up best when he shared with employees, “There’s an extraordinary amount of rational apathy. How does my one dollar or one hour actually change anything about the world? But collective action trumps rational apathy. And when you put people together and have them pool their resources and time, you create massive amounts of action.” We’re proud of our employees’ efforts to support the communities where we live and work. Note: Photos taken pre Covid-19.
Photo credit: Megumi Nakayama (Vice President, Internal Audit, Tokyo)
During Megumi Nakayama’s first week at BlackRock in 2013, she joined colleagues in our Tokyo office in hosting a two-day soccer camp for children with disabilities, supporting the nonprofit Japan Blind Football Association (JBFA). This event made a huge impact on Megumi.
Since then, as the number of JBFA’s soccer camp participants has doubled in size, she’s recruited other colleagues to volunteer too. Megumi has even inspired interns from BlackRock to volunteer by encouraging them to come up with new activities for the children to do at the camps and then bring them to life. “Being involved in giving back to our community gives interns an opportunity to learn about our culture at BlackRock while meeting employees across the firm,” she says.
Aside from organizing volunteer efforts, Megumi also helped JBFA apply for a grant through BlackRock’s Gives grant program, which supports local organizations championed by employees. She says, “You might have limited power as an individual but, with BlackRock’s philanthropic support, you can be much more impactful.”
Photo credit: Wendy Gutierrez (Director, Head of Client Experience Management, Atlanta)
Having been born and raised in Latin America and moved to the U.S when she was 14 years old, Wendy Gutierrez, Head of the Client Experience Management team in Atlanta, knows how it feels to land in an unfamiliar place and acclimate to a new culture. That’s why she was so drawn to @NewAmericanPathways – an organization that helps refugees who arrive to Georgia become self-sufficient through education and empowerment programs.
Leveraging BlackRock’s annual Gives Grant program, an employee-led initiative that allocates funding to local nonprofits, Wendy was able to help secure financial support for the organization.
She joined the Board of New American Pathways in 2014, five years before she started working at BlackRock. “One of the reasons BlackRock spoke to me when I was exploring new opportunities was how deeply the firm engages with community partners. It’s unusual to work for a company that is so dedicated to lifting up the communities where we have a presence,” said Wendy.
Photo credit: Gos Tsotetsi (Analyst, Alternative Solutions Group, London)
Every week, Gos Tsotetsi, an Analyst in our Alternative Solutions Group based in London, has virtual coffee with elderly residents who have been socially isolated throughout the pandemic. The program is run by @IndependentAge, an organization that supports the rights and needs of older people in the UK in order to help them live well with dignity, choice and control.
Gos was involved with Independent Age before the pandemic, championing the organization through the BlackRock’s Gives grant program, which funds local nonprofits nominated by employees. Beyond financial support, Gos has also worked to foster connectivity between our firm and Independent Age by encouraging senior leaders in BlackRock’s Global Public Policy group to lend their expertise in support of the organization’s advocacy efforts. “I thought Independent Age would be a great charity partner since their work to help people experience financial well-being as they age is directly aligned with BlackRock’s purpose,” said Gos.
Photo credit: Max van Walleghem (Analyst, External Relationship Management, Miami)
Meet Max (left), an Analyst on our Latin America team based in Miami, who has been involved with @CentroMaterFoundation since his childhood. Centro Mater Foundation is a nonprofit that provides early childhood education and social services to low-income families. Max’s mom (right) attended the afterschool program as a child, and Max has many childhood memories giving back to the organization with his family.
When Max discovered BlackRock’s Gives grant program, which enables employees to nominate a local nonprofit of their choice to apply for funding, he immediately thought of Centro Mater Foundation. Through Max’s support, the organization received a $10,000 USD Gives grant.
“BlackRock’s fundamental goal is to make financial well-being the standard for as many people as possible. For me, this means subduing the resource curve for low-income families,” Max shared with us.
Explore Akash's inspiring ascent from intern to technologist at BlackRock.
Learn about this entrepreneur's BlackRock career journey from Program Analyst to Associate.
Spoiler alert! It was a great success.
Learn how Simone White, a BlackRock Administrative Professional, is working to evolve the preconception of APs at the firm and everywhere.
Explore Akash's inspiring ascent from intern to technologist at BlackRock.
Learn about this entrepreneur's BlackRock career journey from Program Analyst to Associate.
Spoiler alert! It was a great success.
Learn how Simone White, a BlackRock Administrative Professional, is working to evolve the preconception of APs at the firm and everywhere.
As BlackRock employees, we are both guided and evaluated by our principles. Our founding partners built these principles recognizing the importance of the company’s culture early on. They acted as beacons, showing us how these principles come to life through our decisions, our actions and our work.
We are a fiduciary to our clients.
The fiduciary mindset is the bedrock of our identity. It reflects our integrity and the unbiased advice we give our clients.
And it’s what inspires us to come to work every day and help people build better futures.
We are One BlackRock.
We are passionate about performance.
We take emotional ownership.
We are committed to a better future.
Barbara Novick, one of BlackRock’s founders, exemplifies every one of these principles. And to celebrate her success as she transitions to a senior advisor role, we want to take a moment to shine a spotlight on the impact she’s had not only on the firm but also on the people she worked with, sponsored, mentored and role modeled for every day.
This article highlights just five of the many lessons we have learned from Barbara that will continue to impact BlackRock, our leaders and our culture for decades to come.
1. Barbara taught us it’s not good enough to mentor; we must role model and sponsor those on our team.
“Barbara is not only a mentor, she’s also a role model and a sponsor.”
“In terms of mentorship, she gives frank advice. She pointed out the areas I had to work on and helped develop them. For example, at one point, she thought I had to work on presentation skills, and she helped me find the right resource for that.”
“The thing that sets Barbara apart … is she took me to every senior meeting. I may have only prepared the talking points, but she brought me to the meeting. She gave me a chance to participate and learn that way.”
“Barbara would throw me into things, she’d say, ‘I don’t have time for this,’ and sent me to talk to the head of a central bank or speak at a conference. She put her own personal brand and reputation behind me. It gave me the chance to get those opportunities and show my strengths and talents.”
– Alexis Rosenblum, Managing Director, Chief Corporate Sustainability Officer
2. Barbara demonstrated that it’s possible to excel at our jobs and our lives outside of work.
“I remember her with her kids; she was traveling a ton, totally invested in work but showed up for her kids when it mattered. I have vivid memories of her going to coach her kid’s soccer team. She made me think about the kind of role model I would be for my girls. She was one of those people that can make it work. She gave me a roadmap to follow.”
“People want relatable role models. She’s someone that women can look up to and say ‘I can get there.’ Barbara was a normal person that was really smart, worked really hard, and built something from the ground up. At its core many women like me look at her and think ‘I can do it.’ She’s done that for BlackRock and for the industry.”
– Stephanie Epstein, Managing Director, Global Head of Models Infrastructure in Multi-Asset Strategies & Solutions
3. From Barbara, we saw the importance of recognizing and rewarding outstanding work.
She has been instrumental in the trajectory of my career. She recognized talent and rewarded it. She invested more in me than I thought she really had to.”
“She truly rewarded – not only praised – good work. For example, there was an annual trip that [BlackRock’s founders] would host where we would travel to the Saratoga Racetrack. Select employees were invited … I was an Analyst, and I got to go. … That day trip was such a treat, and I went because of Barbara.’”
“She identified young talent, rewarded that, and acted as a mentor to them. Bringing that human aspect of taking an interest me, despite how senior she was, that impact on me was astronomical. It’s one thing to have your direct line manager think you do a good job, but to have the head of the group think that, I was walking on the moon … And it was very motivating to continue to do good work.
– Marvin Tagaban, Vice President, Americas Investment Stewardship
4. Barbara showed us the value of listening deeply, recognizing potential and taking a chance on backgrounds that may not seem obvious.
“In our initial conversation about a governance role at BlackRock], she said, ‘Let me tell you about the work I’m doing in governance because some of the things you talked about in corporate access, align with what we’re looking for and may be transferrable’ … She then said, ‘We have a lot of people internally who are governance experts, but we need someone who can focus on the business side.’”“For me, it was a perfect fit because my core values aligned with the organization, and in addition to that, I was excited about the work I would be doing, and I love learning. It presented an opportunity to learn a completely new area of business . I’m in my third year, and I’m still learning which is fantastic.”
“I learned to value people and to get to know them. I spend a lot of time thinking about what we’re asking people to do in the investment stewardship seats , what are the core skills required and what is the direction of travel for the role … I look for parallel skills; just because someone doesn’t have product knowledge doesn’t mean they can’t contribute and bring value.”
5. Barbara challenged us to get comfortable being uncomfortable and to recognize the value we bring.
“She helped me identify the things I was good at so I was able to pay more attention when those things happened and identify ‘oh that was easy for me’. Then when I was considering making a move, I’d ask for her advice, she’d help me think about what I am stretching into, how much is anchored on what I’m doing today and what value I bring to the role.”
“[She taught me to think] I’ve mastered this role, what if I go to another group…Now I’m the Chief Client Officer of LATAM. I never would have imaged that…I have an investment, retail, institutional and tech background. I never would have felt as confident as I did to make those moves and understand the importance of my experience if I didn’t have someone pushing me to leave the nest and being open to supporting me.”
“I had a thirst to do different things, but she encouraged it. She pushed you to know what you’re good at that can give you at least one foot of foundation while you continue to stretch.”
We thank you, Barbara, for all that you have taught us. You continue to be an inspiration every day.
BlackRock is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer in compliance with the U.S. federal contractor program. We are committed to equal employment opportunity to all applicants and existing employees, and we evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity/expression), sexual orientation, age, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religion, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. View the EEOC’s Know Your Rights poster and its supplement and the pay transparency statement.
BlackRock is committed to full inclusion of all qualified individuals and to providing reasonable accommodations or job modifications for individuals with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation/adjustments are needed throughout the employment process, please email Disability.Assistance@blackrock.com. All requests are treated in line with our privacy policy.
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