Our candidate and colleague goals are to attract and retain employees from a diverse range of backgrounds and identities and to provide DEI training to foster a thriving culture.

How We Support Our Candidates And Colleagues 

Career Training & Development Partnerships  

We partner with several organizations to support community members in learning about the financial industry and kickstarting a career in the field. We provide financial education, training resources and career readiness support.

• Centro Hispano of Dane County’s Caminos Finance Program: A free training program for Centro Hispanic community members. The program is offered in partnership with Madison College and trains students to prepare to join a financial institution.  
• United Way’s HIRE Education Employment Initiative: A free program focused on helping adults prepare for and find steady employment. 
• Employ Milwaukee’s BankWork$ Program: BankWork$ helps adults from low-income communities build meaningful careers through a free, eight-week career training and coaching process.

Measuring Progress & Identifying Gaps 

To ensure we’re progressing toward diversifying our workplace and upholding our strong commitment to pay equity and equal representation, we have implemented internal measures of success. These measures, which include Pay Equity Policies and use of compa-ratios (a formula to evaluate equal pay), help drive important conversations and build strategies to attract top talent.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

Our employees are encouraged to join and participate in employee-led groups that provide an inclusive space for staff to connect and celebrate with one another.

Each of our team members is unique and brings valuable skills and perspectives worth celebrating to Summit. We offer a day of PTO on their birthday, as well as opportunities to participate in ERGs that focus on their passions and encourage them to continue learning. To create a space for all employees to be their authentic selves, we encourage the sharing of pronouns.

Eligible employees receive paid Diversity is Our Strength floating holiday time to either celebrate, learn about or engage with a topic that connects to their own identity or provides learning about others’. To support this continued journey, Summit also hosts events, activities and employee discussions to encourage learning and perspective sharing.

Coopera Consulting, an external multicultural analytics and consulting firm, helps us identify new ways to be inclusive. With their help, we aim to bring engaging and useful DEI training opportunities to our employees.

Depending on employees’ roles, we offer a variety of remote or hybrid work opportunities. Employees receive one full day of paid Be Well Time – which can be used for doctor’s appointments, volunteering, participating in ERG activities and more. We recognize our branch staff’s unique responsibilities by offering them additional floating paid time off.

Youth Employment Opportunities

We have branches embedded in Madison’s four public high schools, giving students the opportunity to learn valuable career skills. During breaks from school, they have the opportunity to continue working at other Summit branches.

College Internship Program

Our college student internship program offers meaningful work experiences for students in areas including IT, marketing, operations, business lending and others. In addition to real-life experience, interns gain life-long connections and the opportunity to contribute fresh, new perspectives.

Our Work Is Never Done

• We're exploring new employee DEI development programs and resources. 
• We're collecting and sharing new employee stories and experiences.
• We're communicating with employees regularly about developments within our DEI initiatives.
• We're encouraging people to ask questions and have conversations within the work environment.