Brian Lamb, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

New to the job at a time of global crisis, JPMorgan Chase diversity leader talks Diversity initiatives

Brian Lamb was named Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at JPMorgan Chase in April 2020—just a few weeks after the world shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He got rolling in his new position just as the country erupted in response to the George Floyd murder, he still hasn’t met many of his colleagues in person, and yet he calls his new role the best career decision he’s  ever made. He sits down with Women on the Move host Sam Saperstein to talk about the firm’s DEI initiatives, what inspires him, and what he hopes to inspire in others.

Starting a new role during global upheaval

Brian tells Sam that the murder of George Floyd and subsequent ramifications offered an opportunity for reflection, both personally and professionally. “There's parts of this that you can never really prepare for, no matter how much professional experience you have, or even being a Black man in today's environment, which in many ways can be scary and uncertain—there’s really nothing that prepares you for what I think many of us felt or experienced,” he says. “So I think one of the first things I did is try to really kind of bring the humanity back to what we were all experiencing, pause and slow down and take the opportunity to understand that in so many ways, our  colleagues,  friends, neighbors, and the communities that we work with have so much more in common that we can rally around.”

Brian notes that many people have drawn on  natural human resilience to bounce back during times of crisis of the past year. For him, he says, the urgency of the moment translated into professional urgency. “It felt like I had a responsibility, both for my family and for the firm, to spring into action,” he says. “Not ignore long-term strategy, but frankly saying we didn't have the time to wait.”

Diversity initiatives at JPMorgan Chase

As the firm’s global head of DEI, Brian is responsible for executing a strategy that builds on the firm’s existing work and incorporates a diversity lens into how the firm develops products and services, serves clients, helps communities and supports employees. He says this work relies on the firm’s intentionality around an organizational strategy of having DEI ladder up into all aspects of the firm. “There was a commitment both verbally and structurally that we would weave diversity and inclusion into everything that we do,” he says.

Brian notes that accountability is an equally important factor. “The structure was intended to kind of be an enabler [but] we also want to make sure there's the right level of accountability,” he tells Sam. “As we think about sustainable change, we’re really pointing to the key elements of a business around having objectives, with priorities, initiatives, and programs that ladder into those priorities and ultimately have metrics that are transparent, that we can hold our most senior level leaders accountable to.”

That type of accountability, and viewing DEI initiatives as business priorities, are already showing success, Brian says. The firm currently has six verticals, including  Women on the Move , aimed at improving diversity throughout the firm. “We're seeing improvements in our representation results, generally across the board,” he notes.

Measuring success

Making change is not easy, Brian acknowledges. “We still have work to do to make sure that we create that right upward mobility, the experience for employees, regardless of their ethnicity or gender or sexual orientation or identity, so that they feel like this is a place that they belong and that they can thrive and grow,” he says. And at the end of the day, he says, success won't be measured by strategy or an action plan, or even public perception. The real measurement is whether JPMorgan Chase employees are getting the experience the DEI team has committed to providing.

“It’s a dynamic issue,” he tells Sam. “I don't think and have not seen any evidence to suggest there's really one solution or even a handful of solutions that are going to address the hundreds of years that have gotten in the way of equitable prosperity. The comprehensive nature of this, and the business-led nature of [our initiatives], we believe is going to be a difference maker and is a unique approach that we haven't really seen as many do.”