Citi Group said on Friday that it hired Erika Irish Brown from rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc to lead its global diversity strategy, according to an announcement on the bank’s website.
Brown joins Citi as its chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer from Goldman Sachs, where she had led that bank’s diversity and inclusion efforts since mid-2018. Brown previously worked at Bloomberg in the same role.
Goldman named Megan Hogan to replace Brown, according to a memo sent to staff and seen by Reuters.
The role of chief diversity officer has taken on renewed prominence as corporations work to address inequality and systemic racism roughly one year after George Floyd’s death in Minnesota.
Wall Street banks have taken steps to increase recruitment, hiring and retention of diverse employees in recent years, but diverse and female employees still comprise a small percentage of the workforce.
Under Brown, Goldman set a goal that 11% of all new analysts and entry-level associates hired in the United States and 9% hired in the U.K. be Black professionals, for 14% to be Latino professionals and half to be women.
