A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE COMPANY A place where you can be you

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Center for Awareness and Advocacy hosts a yearly campaign to encourage employees to engage with one another and learn about diversity and inclusion-based topics. The “Social Justice in Action” campaign series culminates in 2023 with the topic ”Let’s create impact,” exploring how NYL employees create impact in the communities where they live and work. Year one of the three-year campaign—“Let’s talk about us” in 2021—focused on the importance of identity in intersectionality and walking in one another’s shoes); and year two, titled “Let’s talk about community” covered collective responsibility and the value of communities in advancing social justice efforts. 

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Center for Awareness and Advocacy hosts a yearly campaign to encourage employees to engage with one another and learn about diversity and inclusion-based topics. Our 2022 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Awareness Campaign is "Social justice in action: let's talk about us," and focuses on helping employees understand the importance of identity in intersectionality, and what it's like to walk in others' shoes.

It has always been important to us to invest in a wide variety of development tools and benefits that develop and motivate our workforce. Employees have access to a range of career development and learning resources to enhance their ability to perform in their current roles and prepare for future opportunities. We continually evaluate the tools and policies available to maintain the well-being of our workforce.

The New York Life Supplier Diversity Program helps ensure that diverse businesses have equal access to our procurement process. Our focus is on improving representation among Minority-owned Business Enterprises (MBEs); Women-owned Business Enterprises (WBEs); Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender-owned Business Enterprises (LGBTBEs); Disabled- owned Business Enterprises (DBEs); Veteran-owned Business Enterprises (VBEs); and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned Business Enterprises (SDVBEs).

Since its founding in 1979, The New York Life Foundation has provided $300 million in charitable contributions to national and local nonprofit organizations.

Using demographics provided by our grantees, 77%+ of our total Foundation and corporate contributions served culturally diverse populations. We target our resources and initiatives across several major categories, including partnering with and supporting organizations serving the Black community. View our commitment to the community here.

Spotlight 2020 Donations for COVID-19 and Social Justice

COVID-19 Related Grants: over $57 million has been paid or committed to COVID-19 related support: 

• $50 million for the Brave of Heart Fund 
• $7,186,000 to a number of research and relief organizations supporting communities impacted by COVID-19

Social Justice Grants: $1.25M paid or committed so far to social justice organizations: 

• $1M to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund 
• $250k in matching grants to a number of social justice and racial justice organizations

On April 27, 2021, New York Life announced a $1 billion impact investment initiative with the aim to address the racial wealth gap by investing in underserved and undercapitalized communities over the next three years with a focus on supporting small businesses, affordable housing, and community development. The company will partner with diverse asset managers, federally chartered community development financial institutions (CDFI), and other mission-driven organizations to amplify their efforts on the ground. Two new investments include:

• New York Life has collaborated with Fairview Capital to commit $150 million to invest in diverse and emerging fund managers. Through this collaboration, the company expects to make 15 venture capital and growth equity limited partnership commitments over the next three years. Each commitment aims to support dozens of businesses, which could result in in several hundred businesses impacted overall.
  
  
• New York Life made a $50 million investment to support the preservation of affordable housing rental properties throughout the United States via an equity investment with IMPACT Community Capital. The investment with IMPACT Community Capital will provide short-term bridge loans to borrowers and owners of affordable housing seeking to preserve the properties’ affordability status. The underlying properties will be nearing the expiration of affordable rent restrictions, which place the properties at risk of becoming market-rate rentals.

New York Life will continue to partner with diverse asset managers, federally chartered community development financial institutions (CDFI), and other mission-driven organizations as part of this initiative. The company’s long-term impact investment strategy is to develop large-scale solutions and investment structures that aim to deliver broad and inclusive economic outcomes linked to job growth, health and wellness, and personal and household advancement.

For more than 25 years, New York Life’s Cultural Markets division has been focused on meeting the financial protection needs of historically underserved markets, including the African American, Chinese, Korean, Latino, South Asian, and Vietnamese communities. Cultural Markets has been a core component of the company’s growth and success, anchored by a field force that mirrors the diversity of our clients.    Approximately 50% of the company’s more than 12,000 agents serve these communities, with the goal of creating greater financial stability and wealth for current and future generations of families across the United States.   

Cultural Market Spotlight: African American Market Unit

Since 2003, New York Life’s focus on the African American market has been led by our African American Market Unit and centered on changing the financial future of Black America by helping to create financial stability, economic opportunity, and multigenerational wealth. New York Life has built an industry-leading team of financial professionals who cater to the Black community to provide financial education and tools to close the racial wealth gap and help the community to create billions of dollars in life insurance protection and future income.  

In 2011, New York Life embarked on a mission to change the financial future of Black America with a clear destination to create $50 Billion of generally tax-free, transferable wealth. This agent-led initiative became known as the $50 Billion Community Empowerment Plan. In 2017 our goal was met, but we continue this important work.

New York Life’s Empowerment Plan for the Black community is based on four principles for building a solid financial foundation:

• Protect what you earn, own and owe, and those you love
• Plan for major life events
• Prioritize your financial goals
• Pass your assets to the people and institutions you care about

As one of the largest African American sales forces in the life insurance industry our agent support and development has grown to incorporate many important areas.  Over the last 10 years, the number of lives protected (life cases) by African American agents has grown by over 30%, and the life recurring premium generated by this market has also grown by 42%. We have also more than doubled the recruiting of African American agents over the last 15 years.

The mission continues, and our African American agents and managers are fully engaged in their continued effort to provide financial, educational, and community empowerment in order to help bridge the financial wealth gap in the community.