Woke Silicon Valley Bank donated over $73 million to Black Lives Matter-related social justice groups in the years before it collapsed, while failed Signature Bank gave $850,000, it has been revealed.
A database by the conservative Claremont Institute shows that SVB donated around $73,450,000 to the movement and other social justice causes as it worked to increase its Environmental, Social and Governance rating.
Meanwhile, New York-based Signature Bank donated a total of $850,000 over several years before it failed on Sunday.
It is unclear how the donations given by the banks were spent – but the Claremont Institute claimed Global Network, a BLM private organization, uses its money to fund Black Lives Matter demonstrations and contributed to the organization’s political action committee focused on electing progressive leaders.
The revelation comes as the banks are derided for being too woke and not focused enough on the red flags at their companies.
Both banks had touted their efforts to improve diversity among their staff and address social issues.
In the summer of 2020, Silicon Valley Bank pledged to increase its commitment to ‘diversity, equity and inclusion.’
And in a report at the time, CEO Greg Becker said SVB had an employee matching program for donations that focused on ‘pandemic-response, social justice, sustainability and supporting women, black and Latinx emerging talent and other underrepresented groups.’
The company’s 2021 proxy statement to investors also noted: ‘The calls to end systemic racism and social inequities following the death of George Floyd in May 2020 had a profound global impact.
‘We responded by expanding opportunities for dialogue, including hosting over 40 small group Conversation Circles in which over two-thirds of our employees participated in discussions about racial equity issues.
‘Additionally, we provided opportunities for action, mobilizing our employees and clients to join in community service through Tech Gives Back, a week of volunteer events focused in part on racial equity, social justice and access to the innovation economy.’
At the same time, Signature Bank executives noted in their 2021 Social Impact Report that some 2,200 employees had donated to a variety of organizations and 431 individual grants totaling $1.86 million were directed to nonprofits.
The report said ‘corporate giving is an essential component of Signature Bank’s corporate citizenship, and the Bank’s commitment to supporting universal social causes will only grow along with the bank’s size, strength and position within the corporate community, national economy and global society.
‘Each year, Signature makes unrestricted grants to numerous not-for-profit organizations and funds specific activities and initiatives for many others.
‘With our increased focus on social impact, including practices related to human capital, diversity, equity and inclusion, along with strategies to support and cultivate community engagement, and our approach to sustainability efforts as individuals and as an institution, the Bank continues to strengthen its governance in these areas.’
It is unclear what the funds specifically donated by Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were used for.
But in an op-ed for Newsweek, executives at the Claremont Institute — a conservative thinktank that seeks to ‘restore the constitutional design envisioned by our nation’s founders’ — claimed that Global Network, a BLM private organization, uses its money ‘to support future operations, purchasing luxury real estate, engaging in nepotism, disbursing grants to dozens of BLM chapters and revolutionary organizations, and operating a PAC to “elect progressive community leaders, activists, and working-class candidates fighting for black liberation.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Black Lives Matter for comment.
