Industry ally and affinity group members and leaders share their stories and discuss how their organization’s groups began and their benefits.

Christy Bowen, senior vice president, Bank of America
Can you provide some background on how you became involved with Bank of America’s Ally Groups and what is involved in that role?

Bowen: I’ve been involved in a few employee groups of the bank, primarily supporting women and LGBTQ+ initiatives, and am active in community volunteer groups. There are 11 different ally groups at Bank of America, with more than 280 chapters made up of more than 140,000 memberships worldwide. I am most actively involved in LEAD for Women group and the LGBTQ+ Pride group, and I serve as the Membership chair for the Philadelphia chapter of LEAD for Women (which stands for Leadership, Education, Advocacy, and Development).

To give you a little history, I stumbled upon an article on the Bank of America internal home page, regarding what’s now the LGBTQ+ Pride group, which resonated with me. As a married lesbian hopeful for children, it was exciting. I never really felt support or any level of connection on that front. Needless to say, I read about the group, learned more, instantly joined and I have been a proud member for the past decade.

Being in Philadelphia you would think we’d have our own chapter; however, Bank of America’s office presence in Philadelphia is a little smaller than some of the Bank’s offices in surrounding areas. Being so close to Wilmington, I joined a chapter out of our Delaware office, which is not that far from here. Over the years I’ve been involved with them, in person and virtually. There are general monthly meetings where various topics are discussed. Sometimes outside speakers come in and talk on a variety of relevant topics. The group volunteers often to support the LGBTQ+ community in the greater Philadelphia area. One of my favorite events was at the William Way Center several years back. I have also been involved in both the Philadelphia and the New Jersey pride parades and festivals. There is a special sense of pride in representing the Bank and supporting the LGBTQ+ community with this group.

The LEAD group’s Philadelphia Chapter was formed around 2016. I joined immediately and took on the Membership chair role. Our chapter had started with five members and has grown to over 300. It’s a group dedicated to connecting, developing and elevating women to help them make meaningful contributions within the Bank and our communities. We do a lot of team building and volunteer activities, with occasional guest speaker events. 

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