Inclusive Future of Banking

Kleber Santos

HEAD OF DIVERSE SEGMENTS, REPRESENTATION & INCLUSION, OPERATING COMMITTEE MEMBER AT WELLS FARGO

From his perspective at the helm of Wells Fargo’s Diverse Segments, Representation & Inclusion team, Kleber Santos is optimistic that U.S. banking is on the right path to create a more inclusive and user-friendly atmosphere to benefit all segments of the U.S. population.

Doing the right thing.
Brazilian-born Kleber Santos moved last year from Capital One, a major U.S. bank, to Wells Fargo, a global financial giant, to head the 1.8 trillion-dollar company's newly created Diverse Segments, Representation and Inclusion (DSRI) team. Since November 2020, he has coordinated the bank's internal and external diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives aimed at a greater rapport with the changing demographics of its work force and customer base.

To understand how Santos fits this mission and who he is, the place to start is northeastern Brazil where his upbringing and early career foreshadowed and inspired both his professional path and a family-dominated personal life.

Santos was born in Belém, near the rain forest, but grew up in Salvador, the historic capital of the state of Bahia and colonial Brazil. Bahia is known for its well-crafted lace, its Afro-European cultural heritage and as the location, Santos states with pride, where carnival was created. Santos describes his family as low middle class, a situation which might have been considered impoverished by U.S. standards, he said. Still, he recalls, "I was never hungry and we always had a roof over our heads, but, for example, for many years we did not have a car or the car was constantly breaking down, which made us great clients for car mechanics in our town."

Meanwhile, Santos' character was being shaped. "A lot of choices I have made were influenced by my reverence for my parents and their story," he said. One building block was that his parents never complained or used their poverty as an excuse, but rather as a motivation to improve the lives of their family. Santos' father dreamt of becoming an engineer but because of family obliga- tions he ultimately, via night school, be- came a statistician. In homage to his father, Santos earned a degree in civil engineering. But before he could put on his hard hat, he was drafted into the Brazilian army, where he served as a second lieutenant. Military life ratcheted up his maturity and work ethic, while teaching him to value discipline and to understand resilience.

Santos’ next stop was Brazil-based Oderbrecht Engineering and Construction, a major heavy construction company. He liked construction but soon gravitated to- ward the management side of his work.

Santos decided to attend business school, applied to the University of Virginia, and studied English at night. However, once in the U.S., he found what he had learned was inadequate, and he struggled to understand the language and to be understood. Still, he persevered and earned an MBA and a master's degree in management of information technology.

Santos said that compared to his parents’ experiences what he went through was nothing. Moreover, there was a purpose to his quest. "I want to use my professional success as an example for my own children, as perhaps an example for others in the Latino community and to help my family back home." An emphasis on family permeates his current home life. He is devoted to spending time with his wife and three children -- two teenagers and a toddler. "I love how much I learn from them when we’re together,” he said.

After five years with management consultant McKinsey and Company, learning how data and analysis can clarify the way forward, Santos joined Capital One in 2006. There, he rose through various management posts, culminating with becoming the President of Capital One’s Retail and Direct Bank, before joining Wells Fargo. In his new assignment, Santos is responsible for making sure DE&I is reflected in every facet of the company’s business. It’s a major responsibility, but Santos said that, like his parents, he is "not one to find excuses to not make progress."

For Wells Fargo, the solution was to integrate diffuse efforts throughout the company under one team. “Coordination and scale” lead to sustainable efforts. The DSRI group relies on its internal and external partners and it has deep support from the CEO, Santos said, "but orchestrates in a way that is all purposeful, all coordinated and all working toward the same two or three objectives that will have a lasting impact." Patience also is crucial. "It is a multiyear journey," he advised.

Santos is confident that the banking industry is on the right track to making banking better for everyone, with its focus on convenience, such as online and mobile banking, and its attention to Hispanics and other diverse segments.

"The nation's changing demographics is an amazing force for good," he said, "and will raise the importance for every company in every sector to develop different solutions to meet the needs of all segments of the population."