American Express Canada Named one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers

 American Express Recognized as a Company that Actively Supports the Development and Advancement of Women

TORONTO, March 16, 2016 /CNW/ - American Express Canada is proud to be recognized as one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers for its exceptional workplace diversity and inclusion programs. Now in its 10^th year, this prestigious competition cited Amex's initiatives to support career advancement for women as a top reason for its selection.

"As a diverse organization, Amex embraces the variety of talent and opinions that make up the employee mosaic," says Naomi Titleman, Vice President of Human Resources at American Express Canada. "Balanced leadership and a diverse talent pool ensure access to different perspectives, backgrounds and experiences which we in turn use to serve our customers better."

American Express recently launched a Women at Amex strategy aimed at supporting the development and advancement of women.  To support this strategy, American Express and Women of Influence commissioned a study that looks at female ambition in Canada. The study found that among female corporate workers, less than a third believe it is achievable to reach the c-suite (32%), or even aspire to it (28%).

Currently, women represent 59 per cent of all Amex Canada employees, 45 per cent of the senior leadership team and 43 per cent of the board of directors. "With such strong female representation within the company, it's important that our high potential female employees have access to senior female leaders who act as role models and help them see a clear path to leadership roles within the organization," says Titleman.

Employee round tables and panel discussions are one way employees can interact with and learn from senior leaders at American Express. In addition, a number of female leaders participated in videos that gave leaders the opportunity to tell their personal stories and share career insights and advice.

In addition, American Express employee networks continue to be a key strategic driver for the Diversity and Inclusion strategy at American Express. In Canada, there are eight active employee network chapters, with over 700 participating employees including the Women's Interest Network, Women in Technology, HOLA (Hispanic Origin & Latin American), ANA (Asian Network at AXP), BEN (Black Employees Network), PRIDE, SALT (Christian Employee Network at Amex), and Parents at Amex.

Externally, American Express cultivates a variety of relationships with organizations that support its diversity initiatives, including Forward Together, Women of Influence, and Catalyst.

 "The success we're experiencing with our diversity initiatives is a reflection of the commitment from senior leadership", said Titleman. "Our secret sauce is having diversity deeply embedded in our culture."

About American Express Canada

American Express in Canada operates as Amex Bank of Canada and Amex Canada Inc. Both are wholly owned subsidiaries of the New York based American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc., the largest operating unit of the American Express Company. Amex Bank of Canada is the issuer of American Express charge and credit cards, with outstanding products like The SimplyCash™ Card from American Express®, The American Express® Gold Rewards Card, and the American Express® AIR MILES®* Credit Card. American Express opened its first offices in Toronto and Hamilton in 1853. For more information, visit AmericanExpress.ca or connect with us at Facebook.com/AmericanExpressCanada and YouTube.com/AmericanExpressCAD.

About Mediacorp Canada Inc.

Mediacorp Canada Inc. is the nation's largest publisher of employment periodicals and guides. Since 1999, the Toronto-based publisher has managed the Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which now includes 19 regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach over 13 million Canadians annually through newspaper and magazine partners. The publishing firm also operates the popular job search engine, Eluta.ca, which includes editorial reviews from the Canada's Top 100 Employers project and reaches over 7 million Canadians annually. 

SOURCE American Express Canada

Maggie Dunlop, [phone], [email protected]