As President of Citi, James felt it was important — and, frankly, long overdue — to have someone in a senior position take responsibility for fostering an environment of belonging and inclusion for LGBT+ employees. In January of this year, he was appointed along with Bob Annibale as Co-Chair of the Pride Affinity group at Citi where his role as the LGBT+ ally is to ensure that they continue to make progress toward an LGBT+ inclusive workforce. In his role, he meets with the global Pride Network Steering Committee to obtain feedback on how to encourage more leaders to proudly embrace their identity in the workplace. He is currently part of an effort to actively promote the voices of LGBT+ employees on the diversity intranet site and plans to roll out a diversity communications campaign that focuses on diverse (and non-diverse) employees sharing their stories. Additionally, in June, James co-hosted a Pride Affinity Town Hall, where he addressed questions from the Pride Networks and discussed current events, including their position on public policy and legislation including the Texas Competes Pledge and Transgender restrooms.
