Eastern Bank Earns 100 For 8th Consecutive Year in Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index
For the eighth consecutive year, Eastern Bank, including its Eastern Insurance Group subsidiary, is pleased to announce that it received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. Eastern joins 767 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year, including 48 Massachusetts-based companies.
“Advocating for and defending LGBTQ+ rights has long been important to Eastern,” said Bob Rivers, CEO and Chair of the Board of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. and Eastern Bank. “We are committed to leading with equity and inclusion in our workplace, and to standing up for LGBTQ+ rights in the communities we serve. Thank you to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for setting a standard for LGBTQ equality, and for recognizing the efforts Eastern and many other Massachusetts-based businesses are advancing to make the Commonwealth a welcoming place to live and work.”
Eastern’s “Equality Under the Blue” Employee Network meets regularly with senior leadership on issues of importance to the LGBTQ community, and helps to organize workplace practices as well as various community events. In recent years, this has included an observance of the Stonewall Uprising and during Pride Month, organizing the participation of more than 70 employees at six Pride events. In addition, Eastern has testified before the Massachusetts House and Senate in support of legislation that includes the Nondiscrimination in Health and Health Education Programs or Activities. Eastern helped to convene the business community in a successful effort to uphold civil rights for transgender people during the 2018 Massachusetts election, and is a past recipient of the Boston Business Journal LGBT Corporate Ally Award. Support of the LGBTQ+ community is also made possible through the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation, which in 2020 contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to community partners serving the LGBTQ community.
“Everyone deserves the right to come to work as their authentic self,” said Kathleen C. Henry, Chief Human Resources Officer of Eastern Bank. “We are proud to be named a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality, and will continue to do what we can to ensure LGBTQ rights are continually embraced and upheld.”
The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: non-discrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; supporting an inclusive culture; and corporate social responsibility. The full report, which was released January 28, 2021, is available online at www.hrc.org/cei. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.
About Eastern Bank
Founded in 1818, Boston-based Eastern Bank has more than 110 locations serving communities in eastern Massachusetts, southern and coastal New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. As of December 31, 2020, Eastern Bank had approximately
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