Managing Director, Investment Products Risk Heather Espinosa has global responsibility within Citi’s Risk Management organization for managing certain risks related to the sale, manufacture and distribution of retail investment products. Prior to joining Risk, Heather was one of the founding members of Women & Co. management team, a Citi-owned membership program that is designed to help women and their families manage their personal finances.

Heather believes it is important to give back, including through formalized mentoring, her school PTA and networking programs such as Citi’s Working Parents Network, for which she served as co-chair in 2008-2010. 

According to Heather, she is able to manage the daily juggle thanks to an incredible family and a support network. “My husband and children know that I love what I do, and everyone pitches in to make it work. I have been fortunate to work on teams that share my values and priorities. They understand that it’s important to get to that school concert and also willingly participate in that important late night call to Asia.”

During a recent six-month stint, her husband worked out of Miami. Because of the supportive managers and the flexibility of Citi, Heather was able to set up an office there and worked remotely several days a month. “It greatly helped me with work life balance,” she says.

Her secret weapon? Good, reliable child care and accessible health services. Says Heather: “Citi has backup child care and a health center on location — benefits I use several times a year.”

From caregiver to breadwinner, a working mom plays multiple roles within her family. To help employees juggle their responsibilities, this financial services giant offers a resource and referral provider weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. depending on its users’ needs, it can locate child care, find lawyers, explain college financing options or even set up elder-care assessments. Should families find themselves struggling with emotional or substance-abuse issues, they can conduct three face-to-face meetings with a therapist or counselor (at no cost to them), courtesy of the employee assistance program. If their energy starts flagging because they need to lose weight, lower their cholesterol or control a difficult medical condition, employees can work with the company’s nurse care managers, nutritionists or health coaches to develop a long-term plan.

CEO Vikram Pandit

Head of HR Paul McKinnon

Women managers/execs 43% 

Women among top earners 29% 

Women hires in 2010 50% 

Average weeks of fully paid maternity leave offered 13 

Allows new moms to “phase back” into work with reduced hours? Yes

Offers affinity group for new mothers? No

Offers backup childcare? Yes

Employees working flexibly 10%

Great benefits make this financial services company a standout for working parents, yet its less-touted offerings often have the biggest impact. In the case of employees who wish to adopt or use a surrogate to have children, it’s the fact that they can tap up to $3,000 in aid each time to cover travel, agency and legal fees, as well as related expenses.

CEO Vikram Pandit

Head of HR Paul McKinnon

Offers on-site or near-site childcare Yes

Sponsors backup childcare Yes

Sponsors sick-child care No

Sponsors before- or afterschool childcare Yes

Offers business-travel childcare reimbursements No

Offers support groups for parents of teens No

Offers college coaching No

Offers affinity group for employees with children who have special needs Yes

Offers scholarships to employees’ family members Yes

Offers adoption assistance Yes

What we love meeting the professional needs of 90,000 employees who come from a wide variety of backgrounds would be challenging for some organizations, but this sprawling financial services company is known for its thoughtful approach to promoting inclusion. Every business has its own diversity office, which ensures that its programs and policies are aligned with that overall corporate mission, and managers are required to track their progress with recruiting and retaining multi cultural employees. The company’s sheer size allows for myriad mentoring programs, and many of its female managers often have multiple mentors providing them with advice on everything from finding work life balance to choosing their next positions. Tuition aid of up to $3,000 annually helps many women explore new directions.

CEO Vikram Pandit
Chief Diversity Officer Ana Duarte McCarthy

At Citi, multicultural women represent…
16% multicultural women
7% of corporate executives
3% of senior managers
10% of the top earners
29% of the company hires
Not tracked company promotions
28% of the company losses
Not tracked participants in mentoring programs
43% of participants in affinity groups

48 women’s groups worldwide support more than 7,300 Citi women.

In Novembe 2009, this financial services company launched Women Leading Citi, a program pairing female directors and managing directors with career advocates who help them locate development opportunities and achieve greater visibility within the ranks. As they advance, many rely on the company's eight on- and near-site child-care centers, all of which offer regular and backup care with sliding scale fees. Moms who need short-term assistance reach out to one of three additional on-site backup care centers or tap 15 days of care at selected local facilities for just $25 per day. Employees can save up to $5,000 annually in a pretax dependent-care account, with a match of up to 30% if their household income totals less than $90,000. More than a quarter of the workforce uses a flexible schedule. New birth moms may take 26 job-guaranteed weeks off, with 13 fully paid.

CEO Vikram Pandit

Head of HR Paul McKinnon

Women managers, senior managers and corporate execs 31%

Women among top earners 30%

Women on board of directors 18%

Women corporate executive hires in 2009 0%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year* 0%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year* 1%  

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement Not tracked  

Do formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance? No

*Percentages reflect number of women participants versus company’s total female workforce.

38% of Citi’s female managers are multicultural women.

Supporting multicultural women is a top priority for this global financial services company, which boasts a whopping seven women’s councils in North America alone. To shepherd the careers of high-potential female employees (and make sure they get the exposure they need), it offers the Women’s Leadership Development program, a joint endeavor with the UCLA Anderson School of Business, which provides skills training for top positions. Introduced in 2008, the program has been so successful that it will now become an established part of the company’s leadership education. Last December, the company launched a brand-new initiative, Women Leading Citi, which provides customized coaching and networking events for those at the managing director level. Yet the biggest source of strength for multicultural women may be the 44 employee networks (up from 39 in 2008), which stretch across 14 U.S. cities and offer mentoring, professional guidance and a sense of community. Each network is represented by a top business leader and boasts its own liaison to the HR office. To make sure members are heard, the Office of Global Workforce Diversity regularly checks in on their progress.

Multicultural Women 26%
CEO Vikram Pandit
Chief Diversity Officer Ana Duarte McCarthy

At Citi, multicultural women represent…
0% of corporate executives
5% of senior managers
10% of the top earners
29% of the company hires
25% of the company losses
Not tracked % of participants in mentoring programs
Not tracked % of participants in career counseling programs

8 fully paid weeks off are available to Citi employees who adopt.

No matter what time it is, the 131,000 employees of this New York City–based financial firm know they can contact experts around the clock to help them— whether it’s nurses at a dedicated hotline who can advise on a baby’s 3:00 a.m. cough, a health advocate who can secure a 6:00 p.m. appointment with an in-demand specialist or a referral worker who can help find a babysitter on the fly when schools announce a snow day. Eight child-care centers welcome children of all ages, while employees with elder-care concerns can request help from a service that checks on relatives who live far away. Dozens of corporate women’s councils and networks provide guidance to professional women, as does a new Women’s Leadership Development program, launched last April, which arranges for female employees to take on customized work assignments that enhance their careers.

CEO: Vikram Pandit

Chief Diversity Officer: Ana Duarte McCarthy

Women managers/execs: 44%

Women among top earners: 21%

Women on board of directors: 13%

Women corporate executive hires in 2008: 17%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 28%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: 34%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement: Not tracked.

Formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance: Yes

23% of Citi employees—and an impressive 15% of executives and managers—are women of color.

With locations in more than 100 countries, this globally minded banking and financial services titan derives a deep sense of identity from the cultural differences among its staff—and encourages employees to explore them. In 2002, it launched the first of what would eventually turn into 37 employee networks, with individual groups for female, African-American, Asian-Pacific, Hispanic, Native-American and Asian-American workers. Today, one in 13 Citi employees belongs to a network, but participation is about much more than solidarity: Members also receive cross-business mentoring, benefit from seminars and guest speakers and stage cultural events (from Asian Lunar New Year’s festivals to Hispanic and African-American heritage celebrations) designed to underscore the firm’s interest in its own diverse workforce. Such recognition may be one reason 23% of Citi employees—and an impressive 15% of executives and managers—are women of color.

Multicultural Women: 23%

Multicultural Women Managers/Execs: 15%

Chief Diversity Officer: Ana Duarte McCarthy

Hires who are multicultural women: 26%

Hires who are multicultural men: 17%

Multicultural women managers/execs: 15%

Multicultural men managers/execs: 17%

Top 20% earners who are multicultural women: 7%

Top 20% earners who are multicultural men: 15%

Multicultural women on board of directors: 0%

Offers formal compensation program to reward managers who specifically help multicultural women advance: NO

Rates managers on the number of multicultural women employees advancing: NO

Uses outside recruiter to focus on finding multicultural women candidates: YES

Offers support groups specifically for multicultural women: NO

Offers mentoring programs specifically geared toward multicultural women early in their careers: NO

Offers sponsorship program specifically geared toward multicultural women early in their careers: NO