Lendmark Financial Services, a leading provider of household credit and consumer loan solutions, is sponsoring ten female employees in Pathbuilders’ 2021 leadership development training programs. This is Lendmark’s fifth year sponsoring employee participation in Pathbuilders, a highly regarded professional development organization.

Lendmark’s investment in employee learning and development comes at a time when more than a third of financial institutions expect their respective training budgets to decrease over the next year, and only 10% expect them to increase.

“Lendmark remains committed to the development of female leaders for roles that move their careers and our organization forward,” said Kelley Daviss, executive vice president of human resources of Lendmark. “The Pathbuilders program blends well with Lendmark’s own internal leadership learning and development platform, enhancing our employees’ already strong leadership skills and preparing them to turn around and help their successors.”

Pathbuilders transforms top talent into high-impact leaders who move business forward. Through their programs – Insignia℠,Percepta® Connect, Achieva®, and Inspiria®– Pathbuilders develops high-potential women at four critical career stages. These programs help organizations succeed by strategically building gender-diverse leadership pipelines.

Pathbuilders’ approach integrates mentoring, educational workshops, and interactive peer exchange and leverages their real-world work experience with approximately 4,000-plus professionals from more than 500 client organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, colleges and universities, and government agencies. By participating in Pathbuilders’ programs, graduates have a strengthened ability to directly contribute to the bottom-line success of their organizations and accelerate their careers.

Lendmark’s 2021 Pathbuilders participants represent diverse backgrounds and come from a variety of company departments, including branch administration, branch operations, communications, enterprise risk/audit/compliance, executive administration, human resources, marketing and procurement.

With an overall average company tenure of more than eight years, this year’s participants represent the company’s workforce from manager to executive vice president.

“Our team is excited to be a part of Lendmark’s growth trajectory,” says Helene Lollis, president & CEO of Pathbuilders. “We applaud Lendmark for recognizing the importance of growing their talent as a critical success factor for growing their business. By investing in our programs at multiple levels, they are preparing today’s female talents to be the leaders they need tomorrow.”

Lendmark’s ten employees will participate in different Pathbuilders stages – Percepta Connect, Achieva, and Inspiria – depending on their professional experience. These stages can take three months to a year to complete.

Lendmark has striven to be the employer of choice for its workforce throughout its 25-year history. In 2020, Lendmark began rolling out its internal leadership model – LEND, which stands for Loyal, Engaging, Nurturing, and Decisive. These four leadership attributes are conveyed through a host of supporting behaviors – such as empathetic listening, service orientation, accountability and innovation – that are non-negotiable expectations for Lendmark leaders.

“Lendmark’s continued and increased Pathbuilders participation amidst the pandemic is just one example of its commitment to LEND principals and employees’ professional development,” Daviss said.