At Morgan Stanley, we are committed to embedding diversity and inclusion into all that we do. Continuing to focus on attracting the best talent and creating an organization where everyone can thrive remains central to our strategy. We established representation objectives to drive greater accountability, and while we still have work to do, we are proud of the progress we have made. We are modernizing our talent function, bringing together our recruiting, development and diversity efforts to better enable us to deliver the tools and resources employees need throughout their career journey. In addition to supporting our employees, we also continue to deepen our investments in efforts that champion equity and create sustained impact for our communities.
Driving Racial Equity
Morgan Stanley launched the Institute for Inclusion to further its broad commitments to help drive racial equity. The Institute for Inclusion helps to ensure that DEI is woven into the full ecosystem of Morgan Stanley. Together with input from our external Advisory Board, we are deepening our investments to create a sustainable impact. This includes driving workforce diversity, supporting philanthropic efforts that promote gender and racial equity, and investing to advance economic outcomes for underserved communities through our products, services and business practices.
Since its launch, the Institute for Inclusion has delivered several marquee initiatives, contributing to our long-standing DEI efforts such as the Richard B. Fisher Scholarship, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Two recent efforts include:
- The Equity in Education and Career Consortium launched in partnership with the Morgan Stanley Foundation, and in collaboration with community organizations, helps to address systemic inequities in education and careers for young adults from low- to moderate-income backgrounds, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college. Our community partners include: iMentor, Hispanic Federation, A Better Change, ANY, CUNY ASAP, College Possible, Braven, and SEO. In partnership with these organizations, our objective is to level the playing field by exposing students to new career paths and opportunities; broaden their skills and networks through training, mentorship and coaching; and create a support system for students throughout their educational and career journeys.
- Morgan Stanley believes investment in organizations that help diversify society is critical, which is why we launched the Morgan Stanley HBCU Scholars Program, an integrated effort to strategically engage with and support HBCUs. The program provides full scholarships for HBCU students at Howard University, Morehouse College and Spelman College and is also designed to support their career skills and readiness to help set them on a life-long path to success. Currently at 30 students, the program adds a new cohort each year and will scale to 60 students. The scholarships cover the entire cost of attending the institution for each academic year and is open to students across all disciplines and majors. Additionally, the firm provides a career-readiness program to HBCU scholars with virtual and onsite components to complement their on-campus curriculum.
- And lastly, the Morgan Stanley Small Business Academy, introduced to promote equity and empower diverse-owned small-business leaders. Launched in partnership with the Morgan Stanley Institute for Inclusion and our Supplier Diversity Program, the Small Business Academy is an opportunity for diverse-owned small-business leaders to participate in an educational initiative that enables small businesses to differentiate themselves in the procurement process, strengthen their business acumen and expand their professional networks. Each class consists of a 12-week virtual, instructor-facilitated learning experience, followed by a yearlong mentorship program.
These are just a few examples of our continuing work to build and broaden our efforts to contribute to sustainable outcomes. To learn more, visit morganstanley.com/about-us/diversity.
