Open Letter from Michael O'Grady, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Northern Trust is committed to fighting racism and other forms of bigotry and bias. Michael O'Grady, Northern Trust Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, shared the following with all staff members today:

 
“First, the line of progress is never straight.” This is as true today as it was when Martin Luther King Jr. said it over 50 years ago. When it comes to social equity, we are reminded of this every day. Whether we look at health care, police treatment, violent crime, education, voting rights and more, the inequities remain stark. The pain is real. The level of frustration is high.


Fighting racism and other forms of bigotry and bias, including that focused against religion, gender and gender identity, are not the political imperative of one party or another. It is not the job for just non-profits or religious groups to fix. It is everyone’s responsibility, including those of us in the private sector. 

We have an obligation to not only make our businesses successful but also to do our part in supporting our clients, employees and communities. Poor outcomes created by discrimination not only diminish lives, they diminish our economy and society. We all suffer when the talent within each of us is not recognized, nurtured and allowed to thrive.

Solutions needed to dismantle all forms of prejudice will not be easy or fast to implement. At Northern Trust we’ve had our successes and failures over time, but we remain undeterred in advancing on the path that we have set.  True diversity can exist only in an inclusive work environment where any individual or group feels welcomed, respected, supported and valued to fully participate and contribute to our success.


We have made real progress accelerating our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy.  We have the most diverse group of senior leaders that our company has ever had before.  However, we have failed to promote and hire enough Black, Hispanic and Asian staff to improve our diversity more broadly across the company. Through unconscious bias and other training, along with employee engagement sessions, we are striving to create new cultural norms that challenge exclusionary conventions, encourage active listening, welcome disparate views, and embrace candid deliberation. Overall, we have made some progress, but much more work lies ahead.

During a conversation last year, a colleague asked me, “Do you wish this social justice topic would just go away?” His question made me realize how gravely mistaken we would be to wish these problems away. Rather, we must commit to the hard work and remain steadfast in our pursuit to eradicate racism in all its forms.

Lastly, a word of hope. Each generation has an opportunity to do better than the one that came before. Can any one of us end systemic discrimination? Of course not. But can each one of us play a part in tearing it down? Absolutely. Together, we can create a better tomorrow.

 

Sincerely,

Michael O'Grady
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer