Vanessa Okwuraiwe, Head of Inclusion & Accessibility, joined us on The Modern People Leader.
We talked about how inclusion work has moved deeper into the business, why purpose matters at Edward Jones, and how human judgment, client trust, accessibility, and AI are shaping the future of financial services.
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(14:15) Why Inclusion Is More Integrated Into the Business Now
(15:10) Moving Inclusion From Standalone Programs Into Policy, Process and Systems
(16:25) Building Inclusion Into Leadership Development and Behavior Models
(17:35) Why Inclusion Should Never Be Fashionable
(18:15) Business Resource Groups as Business Influencers
(19:35) Vanessa’s Day-to-Day Work Across Advocacy, Cultural Acumen and AI
(20:15) Building Human Judgment Into AI and Client Experiences
(20:45) Looking at the Client Opportunity Across Generations
(24:00) Why Younger Generations Expect More Inclusive Companies
(26:35) Digital-First Expectations and the Future of Branch Experiences
(29:30) Serving Five Generations of Clients
(30:05) Why AI Makes Information a Commodity, But Trust Still Matters
(33:15) Big P Purpose: Positive Impact With Clients, Colleagues and Communities
(34:10) Little P Purpose: Everyday Ways People Activate Purpose
(37:35) How Edward Jones Develops Leaders Around Respectful Debate and Inclusion
(40:20) Vanessa’s Personal Purpose
(41:35) Giving Feedback With Kindness and Dignity
(43:30) Using AI for Efficiency While Preserving Human Judgment
(44:20) Why Human Connection and Trust Still Matter Most
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Past guests on MPL include Brené Brown, Annie Dean (VP of Team Anywhere, Atlassian), Josh Bersin, Katie Burke (Chief People Officer, Harvey), Liz Fosslien, Helen Russell (Chief People Officer, HubSpot), Dave Scott (Chief People Officer, ADT), Melanie Rossenwasser (Chief People Officer, Dropbox), Crystal Boysen (Chief People Officer, Sprout Social), and many more
