The DE&I Advocate Award

First awarded in 2022, the SIFMA C&L Society Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Advocate Award celebrates legal and compliance professionals who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to building creative solutions that address DE&I inequities in the financial services industry and ensures the next generation of leaders reflects our diverse society.

The award is presented annually by the SIFMA Compliance & Legal Society at its Annual Seminar.

Award Criteria 

The Executive Committee of the SIFMA C&L Society is committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the industry. In our leadership positions, we implement and manifest that commitment in the composition of the Executive Committee itself and the programming the Society offers. The DE&I Advocate Award brings even greater visibility to the importance of DE&I and recognizes the real progress that can be achieved by our organizations and the industry at large.  Awards will be presented to those that have proven a successful record of making bold changes in support of DE&I. Recipients will undergo a robust nomination and selection process with criteria that consider efforts such as: 

• Defining and redefining the scope of DE&I; 
• Securing the support of executive management; 
• Collaborating with community partners; 
• Advising on responses to external events as they unfold; and  
• Creating space to honor and support internal stakeholders and address external shareholder expectations.

DE&I Advocate Award Recipients

• Tonia Bottoms, BNY Mellon | Pershing (2024)
• Jill Centella, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (2023)
• Chris Lewis, Edward Jones and Jacqueline LiCalzi, Morgan Stanley (2022)

Further Resources

For more information about the industry’s efforts to foster diversity, equity and inclusion, visit the DE&I Resource Center and learn about our D&I Leadership Summit.