Company: WTFCN
Filing Date: 2025-04-03
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-031671
Chunk: 33

Company: WINTRUST FINANCIAL CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-03
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 33
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-term bonus incentives, commissions, ad hoc awards and equity awards that are designed to attract, retain and engage behavior essential to support the success of Wintrust. • We provide employees with opportunities to enhance their knowledge, skill sets and training via comprehensive online and in-person course offerings. Annually, each employee is required to complete a robust suite of online training modules, including courses focused on financial institution compliance and regulatory frameworks, as well as cybersecurity. In addition, the Company provides periodic updates to employees regarding best practices for maintaining a secure cyber environment and protecting personal and company information through our manager and employee newsletters. 24 TABLE OF CONTENTS Employee Development Opportunities Wintrust supports an inclusive culture where every colleague can be successful. Our support is manifested throughout the organization in numerous ways, including: • We have a formal equal employment policy which requires that persons are recruited, hired, assigned, promoted and subject to personnel action without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations. We also have a formal policy prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace, reinforced by annual mandatory trainings for all employees. • We continued the “shared responsibility in action” theme with our third cohort of Paired To Win: Advocacy during the 2024-2025 season. The program, which is available to all employees, consists of 12-month advocate-protégé partnerships that pairs one-on-one select high-potential protégés with senior executive sponsor-advocates. The 2024 protégé cohort included 73% female and 13% minority mid-level leaders. The program objective is to accelerate development and exposure of the protégés, and to strengthen a multicultural pipeline of leaders that would be promotable within one to three years after launching the partnership. We have seen 48% of the protégés promoted within the Wintrust enterprise by the conclusion of the program’s second year. • We received a Brandon Hall Group 2024 Award of Excellence in the category of Best Coaching and Mentoring Program for our Paired to Win: Mentoring Program. • We presented for the second year the Wintrust Future Leaders Scholarship. The scholarship recognized two of our exceptional student interns, and aims to support them in their academic endeavors, encouraging them to continue developing their business, leadership, and finance skills while making a positive impact in their communities. This award is designed to support