I would like to acknowledge Jan Miller (President and CEO), Pam Feingold (SVP) and Steve Young (SVP), who join me at the podium. The video you just watched made reference to a 2nd bottom line….these are some of the people who make both bottom lines function seamlessly.
The former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich once said while talking about averages that he and Shaquille O'Neal were, on average, 6' feet tall. Using the same logic, if you averaged the assets of all the award recipients here tonight, the number would be greater than $137 billion. . . Seriously, we are honored to be included among you.
Our institution has long been referred to as a tiny bundle of publicly traded courage.
In the one-dimensional corporate world where shareholder concerns have always reigned supreme, we prefer the concept of stakeholders. In our model of inclusion, employees, customers and communities have an equal place at the table alongside our stockholders. We believe each of these constituencies is best served when all are served.
Over the last 14 years we have consciously created a work environment that provides all our employees with the freedom to be themselves; the benefits to the organization and to the community have been immense. For example: the introduction of domestic partner benefits at our bank some years ago is perhaps less significant than the cultural leverage it has provided to the banking industry.
Long before the traditional definition of "majority" and "minority" was reversed within our cities, we embraced the diversity within our communities. This is reflected in the twenty-two languages currently spoken among Wainwright employees. Indeed, there are some among us who while speaking only English hear the strong cadences of social justice that resonate from other cultures.
The Bank has attempted to use both its cultural and financial capital to further a vision of civic stewardship that promotes a just, tolerant and sustainable society. Over and over we have witnessed the same voices of intolerance arrayed against the civil rights movement, the women's movement, gay rights and the civil liberties of people living with AIDS. For us, the rights of these groups are all connected threads that weave the fabric of a just society.
I would like to thank you for this special honor and close by saying: each of us conducts our daily affairs in a kind of prose, but when we speak of social justice, we elevate that dialogue to poetry. Good night.
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