Westina Matthews Shatteen - Rose To Corporate Prominence In Diversity

When Merrill Lynch wanted to expand its diversity programs in the mid-1990s, it turned to Matthews. By this point, she had developed a stellar reputation. The mayor of New York had appointed her to the New York City Board of Education. She had earned several prestigious national awards and served on the boards of several prominent organizations. Still she was surprised at the job offer. "I was invited to a meeting with some senior executives and lawyers. It turned out they wanted to talk about diversity. I don't know what I had to do with diversity, so I just walked in there and said what I thought," Matthews recalled in Cracking the Corporate Code.

Within three months, Matthews was installed as Merrill Lynch's first head of global diversity. She oversaw corporate-wide diversity initiatives. The new position gave her power to effect change at the firm. One policy she took particular pride in was diversity reporting. "We've created diversity scorecards that keep track of the work force three times a year for every business group around the world," she told Cracking the Corporate Code. "When they have to turn in these qualitative and quantitative reports, you start seeing a difference."

In 2000 Matthews moved to Merrill Lynch Bank where she became senior vice president of community development. Her role was to oversee the bank's charitable and community relations efforts. The following year she became first vice president of community leadership for the firm's global private client group. She held that position until 2003 when was promoted to first vice president of community leadership for the firm's global human resources. In that position Matthews was responsible for developing strategic alliances to support new business development and community relations throughout the corporation.