Berkshire Hills Bancorp : 02/01/2021 - Berkshire Bank Named To 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index

Boston, MA, February 1, 2021 - Berkshire Bank, a purpose-driven 21st-century community bank with locations primarily in New England and New York, announced that it is one of 380 companies across 11 sectors globally to be included in the 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI). The GEI tracks the performance of public companies committed to disclosing their efforts to support gender equality through policy development, representation and transparency and rewards the top performing companies with inclusion in the index.

'We're proud to receive this recognition from Bloomberg for advancing gender equality within our own workplace for the second consecutive year.' stated Gary Levante, SVP, of Corporate Responsibility & Culture at Berkshire Bank. 'It's testament to the hard work of our team, the progress we've made together and our commitment to building an equitable and inclusive culture that's grounded in our Be FIRST values', he added.

'On behalf of our Women's Employee Resource Group, we are proud to work for a company that is recognized for understanding the importance of gender equality.' Said Heidi Higgins. 'We appreciate the support from Berkshire Bank as we continue to strive for supporting all women throughout our organization.' Said Carly Remington, who are the Co-Chairs of the Berkshire Bank Power of Women Employee Resource Group.

The GEI brings transparency to gender-related practices and policies at publicly listed companies increasing the breadth of environmental, social, governance (ESG) data available to investors. The comprehensive, transparent GEI scoring methodology allows investors to assess company performance and compare across industry peer groups.

The reference index measures gender equality across five pillars: female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand. Sixty-nine percent of Berkshire's workforce is composed of women including fifty-three percent of those in management positions. In addition, half of those holding the title of Regional President and nearly fifty percent of executive management positions are also held by women.

'The companies included in the 2021 GEI are expanding the ESG data universe to include gender-related data that investors are demanding today,' said Peter T. Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg. 'Their commitment to disclosure is making the business case for inclusion, and driving transparency in the markets.'

Through disclosure of gender-related metrics using the GEI framework, the firms included in the 2021 GEI have committed to provide a comprehensive look at their investment in workplace gender equality and the communities in which they operate, raising the bar of what should be expected from other companies within the same industry. Berkshire Bank was included in this year's index for scoring at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect a high level of disclosure and overall performance across the framework's five pillars. To learn more please visit the GEI website. Bloomberg Terminal subscribers can access the GEI at {BGEI }.

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Veronika Henze
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Liidia Liuksila
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About Berkshire Bank

Berkshire Bank is transforming into a 21st-century community bank as it pursues purpose-driven performance based on its Be FIRST corporate responsibility culture.  

Berkshire Bank provides business and consumer banking, mortgage, wealth management, investment, and insurance services. The Bank has approximately $12.9 billion in assets and operates 130 branch offices in New England and New York, with an agreement to sell its eight Mid-Atlantic branches. Headquartered in Boston, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE: BHLB) is the parent of Berkshire Bank and is a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. To learn more, call 800-773-5601 or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.