Dianne Wagman is a senior vice president, senior director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Executive Talent Acquisition for Santander US.   

Please provide a bit of background. How did you get into the industry? What is entailed in your current role? What do you enjoy when you aren’t working?

I’m responsible for driving Santander’s US Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) strategy of supporting employees from every background and fostering an environment where colleagues feel valued and enabled to contribute to and grow at our company.  We look to provide resources that help employees recognize the uniqueness of individual identity, understand biases on a deeper level and explore behaviors that promote trust.   I also have responsibility for executive recruitment for Santander US.  This team brings senior level talent to the organization across the US.   The intersectionality of both positions is ideal as Santander continues to work towards increasing diversity within its Executive Team.  I joined Santander in 2016 after having spent 15 years at CIT in human resources roles including project manager, human resources business partner and global head of talent acquisition.

I live on the New Jersey shore with my husband, Alan, who shares my passion for kayaking.  Warm weather and calm waters will always find us afloat.   

Why did you join the Committee?

I have spent the last 20 years of my career in banking.  Throughout this time, I have been fortunate to have been given opportunities to be part of and lead several different areas of human resources   When presented with an opportunity to go into a new area of HR I have always welcomed the challenge.   My entry into Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is recent, having taken on the role in August of last year.  Shortly afterward I was asked to join the DEI Committee for SFNet. I thought this was an excellent opportunity to help shape and foster a culture in the industry, to look below the waterline and to dig deep into the appreciation of individual uniqueness and identity.  I am so pleased to be able to partner with other like-minded banking professionals on this journey towards an important goal.

What do you think the industry can do to increase diversity, equity and inclusiveness?

We must build a culture of trust so that employees can feel truly included and valued. In doing so, we strive to create a safe space where employees can share their experiences and ideas.  Employees that are encouraged to be authentic will feel welcomed and valued.  By being respectful, thoughtful, and truly listening you will increase the openness and build awareness and understanding in your employees.   You will find that you can see things through a different lens.  You are engaged in different perspectives and mindsets with creative solutions never shared before because people are no longer afraid that they won’t be heard.  There is a lot of hard work that needs to go into building a culture of trust, but these steps will mitigate the age old “groupthink” and take the industry to the next level.