A senior Bank of America exec says she wouldn’t have gone to university if it wasn’t for a mentor

A senior Bank of America exec says she wouldn’t have gone to university if it wasn’t for a mentor

To climb the corporate career ladder, find mentors and "have an open mind." That's the advice of Katy Ingle, Bank of America's head of diversity and inclusion for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Ingle told Insider that having the right mentors and managers was one of the "biggest things" for her, and that anyone aspiring to progress their career should look for their own mentors. Having a "can do attitude" was also important, she said. She said she was the first in her family to go to university but wouldn't have done so had a mentor not encouraged her. A manager at work "basically mentored me and said: 'you're bright, you need to go and do A-levels, you need to go to university,'" Ingle said. She graduated from the University of Chester with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 2004. Ingle said that having someone who "championed" her helped open her eyes to different opportunities. "This person wasn't particularly well connected," she said. "It was just someone who got to know me and gave me advice, and who I could ask questions at any given time." Ingle said she'd been fortunate throughout her career to have been exposed