To enact the appropriate resources to insure continued/expanded diversity opportunities within the board and across the company so as to create a Board and employee base which is in sync from a diversity perspective with the people and the communities we serve.

We took several actions to include adopting a formal Board Diversity policy which is now part of our governance and nominating committee charter.  Additionally, we created a director of diversity position within our recruiting department to insure that we have a full slate of candidates of varying races and backgrounds and that ultimately shape our effectiveness in hiring and retaining employees of a racially diverse and community-reflective norms; additionally, we are advertising in a manner so as to attract a diverse group of people with the intent to monitor and move directionally toward a more diverse workforce with tracking done at the regional level across our home office as well as our many partnerships around the country.  Further, as we move back towards an in-office environment we hope to use the resources provided by the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion Group to discuss our initiatives, to provide employees and managers with bias related training and to provide a vehicle for all of our employees to engage around these important initiatives.

Our Board is moving in the right direction and I believe will further diversify as we have several board members retire in the next few years.  We are planning a later in the year board search and I know our commitment to gender and racial diversity will continue to be at the forefront of that search.  On the hiring front for the rest of the Company it is early yet but I remain hopeful that we can make a difference through these initiatives and those yet to come.  The job market is challenging right now with a larger than normal number of open positions so with our director of diversity in place I am hopeful that we can continue to make progress in this important area.