BOSTON– Women who stand together rise together.
That’s the message Eastern Bank Senior Vice President Sujata Yadav, of Lynnfield, and her colleagues are sending as Eastern celebrates Asian-American women leaders in Massachusetts.
Women comprise 68 percent of Eastern Bank’s total workforce; 50 percent of the corporate officer corps, and 33 percent of the bank’s management committee. The largest subsidiary, Eastern Insurance Group, has been run by women for more than 20 years.
“We were thrilled at the event’s success in bringing together Asian-American thought leaders from both the business and political sectors across Massachusetts,” said Yadav.
She helped organize a May 24 event showcasing Asian-American women in business and public service, and she was at the center of the Eastern event’s planning through the Asian-American Professional Employee Collective.
Yadav and Yongmei Chen, senior vice president and team leader of Eastern’s Community Development Lending Group, want to see positive changes in the Asian Community, and they want to support and empower Asian women to become business owners.
“The event is about building stronger communities, bringing people together, and raising awareness about challenges and opportunities for Asian-American women leaders,” said Yadav. “I’m especially pleased to represent Eastern’s commitment to advancing women, along with my event co-chairs.”
Eastern’s Management Committee is comprised of the company’s twelve most senior executives. Fifty percent of its members are women and people of color, and one-third of the committee is younger than 50 years of age.
Each year through its targeted grant program, Eastern supports hundreds of organizations working for progress on a specific area of need in the bank’s New England footprint.
In celebration of Eastern’s 200th anniversary and to honor its first depositor, Rebecca Sutton, the 2018 grant program will support organizations focused on a wide range of issues that disproportionately impact women and girls. The groups are tackling a wide range of topics, including pay inequality; underrepresentation in leadership and science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers; discrimination in health care; sexual assault; and domestic violence.
Yadav and Chen both said they’ve faced issues being Asian women. With this year’s event specifically focusing on Asian women business owners it provides a needed platform for women to share their experiences in the business world both large and small.
