Aspiring to be a bank “with a soul” and empathy might sound like an oxymoron, but Citi Canada lives up to that commitment from the company’s new global CEO, Jane Fraser.
Just ask associate banker Gursahiba Chandhoke, who says she was drawn to Citi five years ago – fresh out of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. – in part because of the “human aspect of the bank, the opportunity to volunteer in the communities that we operate in. That’s something very dear to my heart, and it’s been a consistent theme to everything I’ve done since I was a young girl.”
A few years ago, Chandhoke got involved with a national program called Rise Asset Development, a Citi Foundation grant partner that helps entrepreneurs with past mental health or addiction challenges to thrive. She became a mentor to a Kingston woman who ran a business providing services to pet owners.
“She was having a bit of trouble with understanding how to balance her books, how best to price some of her products and services, so I had monthly discussions with her to understand how we could better shape her business,” says Chandhoke.
“That was really powerful for me because I felt like I was sharing what I’d learned at the bank, and seeing her transformation as a person and with her business was truly powerful. Every time I’m in Kingston I try to stop by and see her.”
A subsidiary of Citi, a financial-services multinational, Toronto-based Citi Canada focuses on safeguarding assets, lending money, making payments and accessing capital markets on behalf of its clients.
It also supports non-profits across the country with virtual Citi Skills Marathons, donating the talent and expertise of bank employees to address organizational issues in areas such as human resources, information technology, governance and public affairs.
Christine Discola, country human resources officer for Citi Canada, notes that environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria are key to the company’s strategy. Indeed, in addition to its “Global Community Day” and another paid volunteer day per year, notes Discola, in 2021 Citi in North America introduced a unique program whereby employees may take two paid weeks off to engage in volunteerism.
“It’s so clear to all of us working at Citi that our ESG agenda, including philanthropy, is not something happening just at the side; it’s something that’s integrated into our business and culture,” she says. “We take meaningful actions on everything from education to affordable housing, racial diversity and gender equality. We’ve been recognized over and over again as being leaders in this space.”
Among other things, Citi Canada has a self-ID program that, says Discola, “encourages all employees to feel comfortable to disclose all aspects of their identity. Whether it’s gender or sexual orientation or ethnicity, we believe that self-ID signals to our employees that we see you, we hear you, we welcome you.”
For Chandhoke, Citi Canada’s commitment to diversity is empowering. In addition to training that has allowed her to grow, she says, Citi is devoted to grooming female employees: three years ago, it set a goal to have 40 per cent of its management team as women, which it has now exceeded.
“From Day 1 of joining Citi I’ve had women in senior positions in my own business group,” she says. “And then there’s our new CEO. For me, as a young professional moving up the ladder, if you can see it, you can be it.”
