SHARING A MOMENT—Juanita Lomax, chair for the PNC Pittsburgh African American EBRG’s Community Outreach and Event Planning Committees and Susan L. Taylor founder and CEO of the National CARES Mentoring Movement encourage one another. (Photos by Diane I. Daniels)
Juanita Lomax helps PNC open doors to minorities through PNC Supply Chain Management.
As a Business Systems Analyst for PNC Supply Chain Management the responsibility of Lomax is to focus on the development and implementation of systems and applications for Supply Chain Management and other businesses within the company. Employed with PNC, considered among the leading financial services organizations in the country since 2006, she takes her job very seriously. She also views her roles as chair of the Pittsburgh African American EBRG’s (Employee Business Resource Group) Community Outreach and Event Planning Committees seriously. She says the organization was established as part of PNC’s corporate-wide diversity and inclusion initiative to support programs that engage employees, customers, communities and suppliers.
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE — In town for the Pittsburgh African American EBRG Networking presentation, Susan L. Taylor (fourth from the left) founder and CEO of the National CARES Mentoring Movement meets with area business leaders. Colleen O. Fedor of Mentoring Partnership Southwestern PA, Terri Michele of Pittsburgh CARES Mentoring Movement, Howard B. Slaughter, Jr. of Christian Management Enterprises, LLC,; Charlie Batch of the Charlie Batch Foundation and Linda Banks of the Pittsburgh CARES Mentoring Movement. (Photos by Diane I. Daniels)
Established over three years ago, according to Lomax, 450 members strong the African-American EBRG has a three pillar platform; to help PNC recruit and retain the best talent, to provide a forum for networking and development opportunities among members and to strengthen business relationship with the African-American community to help drive growth. Officers are MJ Roach; president, Kimberly Jackson; vice president, Darra Duckett; secretary, Steffanie Jasper; treasurer and Angela Blanton; membership sustainability.
“Group members enjoy the opportunity to make a positive impact within the communities PNC serves,” she said. Lomax said the group is excited about mentoring. They have an affiliation with Gwen’s Girls, have worked with the Pittsburgh Cares Affiliate of the National CARES Mentoring Movement and works very closely with the bank’s Grow Up Great Initiative.
“The members were very receptive and motivated by Susan Taylor’s presentation when she was recently in Pittsburgh,” said Lomax. “They realize that mentoring makes good business sense and by mentoring and investing in our youth, we invest in our future economy and in the leaders of tomorrow.”
PNC in partnership with the Employee Partnership Councils, Black Network Business Resource groups and Affinity groups from Alcoa, Bayer, BNY Mellon, Heinz, Highmark, UPMC and U.S. Steel recently hosted an evening with Susan L. Taylor, editor-in-chief emeritus of Essence Magazine and founder and CEO of the National CARES Mentoring Movement. During her presentation she specified that there are close to a thousand mentors needed in the Pittsburgh region. “The village is on fire. It is our kids that are in crises and they need us.” Pointing out that 80 percent of Black fourth graders are reading below their reading level she said through mentoring 98 percent stay in school, 98 percent do not become teen parents, 85 percent do not use drugs and that 98 percent avoid gang participation. “Raising and mentoring our children is the most important job of our time,” she said.
Aimed at helping to prepare children from birth to age five for success in school and life, the PNC Grow Up Great initiative is another program the African American EBRG is excited about, said Lomax. As a goal she says the initiative is one of their focuses. A $350 million, multi-year bilingual initiative, the PNC Grow Up Great and PNC Crezca con Éxito form a comprehensive, bilingual program designed to help prepare children, particularly underserved children, for success in school and life.
One component of Grow Up Great is the financial education initiative. According to PNC officials the 12 million dollar initiative serves children, their parents, caregivers and teachers to enhance financial education for families in 15 states and the District of Columbia. The initiative is designated to introduce one million multimedia kits with lessons and activities to enhance financial education for children; for the PNC Foundation to commit five million dollars to seed programs by non-profit organizations that provide financial education instruction and materials along with teacher training; to encourage children to learn basic financial concepts through activities and tips that highlight the importance of saving, spending and sharing, making choices and the value of people, things, and money; to engage parents in their children’s learning experience through a Parent/Caregiver Guide that provides ideas on how to easily introduce developmentally appropriate financial concepts and skills; to establish volunteer opportunities for PNC employees to assist non-profit organizations, teachers and instructors in support of the program and to reference a new children’s savings account supported separately by PNC Bank, the retail banking division of PNC.
Lomax said that EBRGs support PNC’s diversity and inclusion strategy and are a powerful tool to foster an inclusive culture. She said EBRGs are structured to support employees with a shared heritage, gender, sexual orientation or background, but are open to anyone who supports their mission.
“These groups provide opportunities for professional development, networking, sharing information, learning from each other, and otherwise contributing to PNC’s business success,” she said. Other than the African-American group other EBRGS are the Asian American Employee Business Resource Group, the Disability Awareness Employee Resource Group, the Latino Employee Business Resource Group, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies Employee Business Resource Group, the Military Employee Business Resource Group, the Multicultural Employee Business Resource Group, the PNC Recognizing Emerging Professionals Employee Business Resource Group and the Women Employee Business Resource Group.
Pleased with the efforts and commitment of Lomax, a Westinghouse High School graduate and the African American EBRG, Taylor encouraged the group to continue their community outreach, mentoring and diversity and inclusion strategies. “The Holy Spirit is pleased with you,” she said.
Follow @NewPghCourier on Twitter https://twitter.com/NewPghCourier
Like us at https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Pittsburgh-Courier/143866755628836?ref=hl