TORONTO, March 8, 2022 /CNW/ - Scotiabank today is proud
to announce the expansion of The Scotiabank Women Initiative™ to
Costa Rica. Currently available in
North America and Jamaica, the program has built on its previous
successes to deliver a tailored program designed specifically for
women-led businesses in Costa
Rica.
The Scotiabank Women Initiative will provide equitable access
and personalized solutions and products to women-owned and
women-led businesses across the country. Specially curated offers
and features include:
- Discounts of up to 50 per cent off on loans rates for women-led
businesses that do not meet the Development Banking Law
requirements.
- A four-month online program for 150 women, in alliance with
Grupo SET Consulting, a prestigious international chain
specializing in SMEs.
- An alliance with the Association for Leadership and Social
Advancement (ALAS) to develop a series of informative and
educational materials for our clients, focused on leadership
topics.
"After successfully launching The Scotiabank Women initiative in
Jamaica, we're thrilled to be
expanding in Costa Rica providing
the resources women need to help bolster their businesses in this
country," says Ignacio Deschamps,
Group Head, International Banking & Digital Transformation,
Scotiabank. "By expanding the program, we're meeting a need in
Costa Rica by creating
opportunities for the advancement of women-led businesses. We're
proud to be helping break down barriers that women face when it
comes to financing their businesses."
Launched December 2018, The
Scotiabank Women Initiative is a comprehensive program designed to
increase economic and professional opportunities for Scotiabank
clients who identify as women or non-binary by providing access to
capital and tailored solutions, specialized education, advisory
services and mentorship to help them succeed on their own financial
terms.
The Scotiabank Women Initiative has achieved many notable
milestones since its inception including:
- Deployed more than $3 billion in
capital to women-owned and women-led business in Canada
- Expanded into Global Banking and Markets and Global Wealth
Management and launched internationally in Jamaica this year with imminent plans for
Latin America.
- Engaged almost 7,000 women-led entrepreneurs in Canada in mentorship sessions.
- Launched The Scotiabank Women Initiative Digital Hub in
collaboration with Shopify, Google Canada, Pinterest, LinkedIn,
Facebook and HubSpot to deliver key resources to help women
entrepreneurs adapt to uncertain economic times.
- Trained 500+ employees in client-facing roles on how they can
empower their women clients to take charge of their financial
futures.
- Integrated into several of our key business lines including
Global Banking and Markets (GBM), Global Wealth Management (GWM)
and International Business (IB)
On International Women's Day and 365 days a year, Scotiabank's
commitment to gender equality, economic empowerment, inclusion of
women across the diverse communities it serves include:
- As the people of Ukraine,
especially women and families, continue to be impacted by the
humanitarian crisis, Scotiabank has donated to the Red Cross'
Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal, to support relief efforts for
those affected by recent events in Ukraine and surrounding countries.
- Scotiabank is committed to increasing the representation of
women in senior leadership roles as part of its efforts to build an
inclusive workforce. As of January
31st 2022, 42% of Vice Presidents and above in
Canada are women which has grown
11% since 2013. Outside of Canada,
Women representation in these roles has grown by 16% since 2013 to
27%. With women representing 37% per cent of Vice Presidents and
above globally, the Bank continues to work towards increasing the
representation of women in these roles to 40% globally by 2025.
- In January, Scotiabank announced a new global standard for
parental leave across its global footprint by 2025. The enhanced
offering includes 8 fully paid weeks for all parents welcoming a
new child and 8 additional fully paid weeks for parents who have
given birth. This new standard will be introduced in 24 countries
across the Bank's footprint including Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru
and more.
- Equal pay is part of our commitment to gender equality and
discrimination-free decision-making. We annually conduct a thorough
review of gender and compensation in our Canadian business to
ensure we offer equitable remuneration as part of our commitment to
diversity, equity and inclusion. We made efforts in 2021 to close
the gender wage gap, including pay adjustments for select
populations.
- Through ScotiaRISE, Scotiabank's 10-year,
$500 million initiative to promote
economic resilience among underrepresented groups, the Bank is
providing support to organizations committed to advancing inclusion
for women including: Windmill Microlending, Groupe 3737, The
Redwood, Dress for Success Canada
and many more.
- Scotiabank efforts to prioritize gender equality and an
inclusive culture have been recognized globally.
-
- Aequales PAR Ranking: Scotiabank was recognized in all
four of the Pacific Alliance countries by the PAR LATAM ranking,
awarded by consultancy Aequales. This ranking annually measures
concrete advances in gender equality, recognizes the most equitable
organizations in each country and serves to promote good employment
practices in Latin America.
Scotiabank ranked: #1 in Chile, #3
in Peru, #4 in Mexico, #2 in Colombia (0-200 employees), and also received
an honourable mention in Mexico
and Colombia as "best-in-class" in
the financial services category.
- Canada's Best Diversity
Employers: Scotiabank was named one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers 2022 by
Mediacorp Canada Inc., organizers of the annual Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which
recognizes the nation's leaders in creating inclusive workplaces
for employees from five diverse groups: women; members of visible
minorities; persons with disabilities; Indigenous peoples; and
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) peoples.
- This year, Scotiabank deepened its partnership with Catalyst by
becoming a Global Expert Community Supporter. This enables Catalyst
to develop action-oriented research to build inclusive cultures and
address workplace issues at the intersection of gender, race,
ethnicity and culture. With this support, Scotiabank receives input
from subject matter experts to provide recommendations on diversity
strategy, the opportunity to share and learn best practices from
other Supporters and lastly, have a deeper understanding of current
issues impacting workplaces. Starting this March, Scotiabank and
Catalyst are delivering a series of events in Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru, designed to create awareness, dialogue
and action around advancing women. The series will begin in
Chile this month and we will
conclude with Peru in July 2022.
About The Scotiabank Women Initiative
The Scotiabank
Women Initiative is a signature program designed to increase
economic and professional opportunities for our clients who
identify as women or non-binary to be successful, now and in the
future. This globally expanding, unique offering helps thousands of
women pursue their best professional and financial futures by
providing unbiased access to capital and tailored solutions,
bespoke specialized education, holistic advisory services and
mentorship. Whether supporting women to take their careers and
businesses further, collaborating with inclusion-focused leaders
and companies, providing women-owned and women-led businesses with
equitable access to funding or helping women take charge of their
finances, The Scotiabank Women Initiative breaks down barriers to
empower women to succeed on their own terms. For more information,
visit scotiabankwomeninitiative.com.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading bank in the
Americas. Guided by our purpose: "for every future", we help our
customers, their families and their communities achieve success
through a broad range of advice, products and services, including
personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private
banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets.
With a team of approximately 90,000 employees and assets of
approximately $1.2 trillion (as at
January 31, 2022), Scotiabank trades
on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit
http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter
@ScotiabankViews.
SOURCE Scotiabank