The Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) hosted a conversation with Mandell Crawley, the chief human resources officer for Morgan Stanley, in Romita Auditorium on Oct. 18.  

The talk, which was entitled “CHRO Perspectives on Talent, Career Strategies and Best Practices” was hosted by Dr. Alison Munsch, the interim associate provost for DEIB. 

Crawley began the discussion by talking about his own career of 30 years working within capital markets in various capacities. He initially didn’t have an interest in financial services. He instead thought he would be an educator.  

“Careers are not linear,” Crawley said. “They are pretty circuitous.” 

However, despite his interest in being an educator, Crawley found himself at Morgan Stanley, a Fortune 500 company with 83,000 employees across 40 different countries.   

Among those 83,000 employees at Morgan Stanley, Crawley mentioned that the demographics are shifting as more Gen Z employees join the ranks. He also discussed how the world has changed from the pandemic. For example, the five-day work week saw a radical shift. 

Another topic Crawley covered was the push for racial and social equity. Crawley discussed how diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is not a zero-sum game.  

When explaining his career journey, Crawley said he asks himself four questions every year. Am I learning? Am I growing? Am I having an impact? Am I happy? If the answer is no to any of these questions, Crawley says it’s time to evaluate what you are really interested in doing. According to Crawley, some people will understand their superpowers before others, but there is no timeline to success. 

Students and faculty then got the opportunity to ask questions about a typical day of work at Morgan Stanley and how they could get involved at the company. Crawley also answered a question about resiliency, saying that in many ways life only gets harder. However, you learn how to deal with hard better. 

Crawley got his B.A. in economics from Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago) and received an MBA with honors from Fordham University. He currently serves on the Board of Governors for the Boys and Girls Club of America. Crawley is originally from Chicago, but he now resides in New Rochelle.