7 For the past 17 years, Clifton Flushy has been a part of the TD Bank Group (TD) landscape in various capacities. He started out as a Customer Experience Associate at the Bramalea Branch in Brampton, Ontario. Over the span of his career, Flushy worked in various markets in the Greater Toronto Area, including past roles as Financial Advisor, Branch Manager, Group Manager, Manager and Segment Strategy, which equipped him to navigate his involvement with the TD Black Employee Network, which he says, “was the place where we, as a Black community within the Bank, would come together.” Fast forward to today, where he leads the charge for the Black Customer Experience (BCE) Strategy as National Manager, Black Community Business Development and you’ll find a proud Black man of Jamaican descent, enjoying the thrill and challenge of being a leader. In his role with the TD Black Employee Network, he helps the team to promote awareness and enhance the employee experience. They put together townhalls and send out newsletters to Black employees and allies, to inform them of what is going on in the Black community and help community members navigate the corporate environment. “At the end of the day, it is education on what Blackness is and what anti-Black racism is also,” explains Flushy, who holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from York University and an MBA from the University of Guelph. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the Bank made a number of commitments including to expand the diversity of its leadership teams and extend the support and services it offers to Black, Indigenous and other minority communities. Flushy’s current role, supporting the Black Customer Experience Strategy, was created as part of these changes. “Our lived experience is very different from people who are of the majority… My voice matters, and my team’s voice should matter as well,” he says. In an interview with The Gleaner, Flushy shares that he is still astounded by the huge influx of community members and allies who have joined the Black Employee Network at TD since its creation. “Initially when I started, the Black Employee Network had about 700 members and I am proud of where the network has grown now standing at 5,000 members, which is a big deal because there are over 95,000 total employees,” remarks the banker, who also leads the allyship pillar of the TD Wealth Visible Minority Council. Flushy says he is similarly encouraged by what he’s seeing in his day job. “My current role as National Manager, Black Community Business Development is incredible. It’s a great role where we go out and thank Black customers for their business and say thank you for being with us. The goal is to bring the Bank to Black communities with the intention of bettering the financial services and support provided by the Bank to Black communities.” As part of the Strategy, Flushy’s team is focused on creating better relationships with Black communities and businesses in which TD Black leaders, managers and personal bankers across Canada have been trained to provide elevated advice and a tailored customer experience for Black Customers, all backed by a research-based approach. “The strategy is defined by the belief that we must take the initiative to better our financial services by recognizing gaps in service and addressing them ourselves through proactive outreach to Black communities,” says Flushy. Clifton Flushy commits to Black excellence Clifton Flushy-National Manager, Black Community Business Development - TD Bank Group The Black Customer Experience Strategy also provides financial literacy to community organizations the bank has worked with through the TD Ready Commitment, the bank’s corporate citizenship platform. “We do a lot of work - both internally and externally- to make sure that people know that we want to do Black business,” he reiterates. Flushy is happy to see positive change and reflects on the times in his past role where people would mistake a Caucasian colleague to be his boss and were surprised when he was the one in-charge. He hopes for a time when that bias no longer exists. According to Flushy, the Black Employee Network is working to change that as it educates employees internally, helping them gain a better understanding of the unique perspectives of Black communities. Flushy has worked hard to achieve his well-deserved success at the Bank, including receiving several internal awards recognizing his accomplishments and zeroing in on his leadership around the Black Customer Experience Strategy. His work on that initiative has helped strengthen the financial services and support provided by TD to Black communities and accelerated the corporation’s broader and long term goals around Diversity and Inclusion. Sponsored by Sophia Findlay ® The TD logo and other TD trademarks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank or its subsidiaries. THE MONTHLY GLEANER | FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 22, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | ADVERTISEMENT
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