Sun Life Financial Names Melody Powell Assistant Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion

WELLESLEY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The U.S. division of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF, TSX:SLF) announced the appointment of Melody Powell to Assistant Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion. Powell will report to Bob Salipante, President of Sun Life Financial U.S., and Maura Slattery Machold, Vice President, Human Resources.

“I look forward to supporting the company’s employees with their diversity initiatives. My goal is to deliver a sustainable and practical diversity program to make Sun Life an even better place to work.”

As Assistant Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion, of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (U.S.), Powell will be responsible for developing and implementing Sun Life's diversity initiatives strategy. Additionally, Powell will research best practice and benchmarking information to share across the enterprise on topics ranging from recruitment, retention and work-life issues to career development and educational practices.

“Melody’s experience in driving and executing diversity and inclusion initiatives align with the needs of our business,” said Salipante. “Sun Life is a geographically diverse company with operations across the world and the addition of a Diversity and Inclusion leader will position Sun Life competitively as a great place to work and prepare us to better serve our worldwide customers.”

Most recently, Powell was Vice President, Head of Global Diversity for MasterCard Worldwide in Purchase, NY, where she worked with executive leadership and management teams to develop and implement workplace diversity and inclusion initiatives. Prior to joining MasterCard, Powell was the Director of Diversity for Nike, Inc. and Regional Director, Office of Diversity, for the Providence Health System in Portland, Oregon.

“It is an honor to join Sun Life,” said Powell. “I look forward to supporting the company’s employees with their diversity initiatives. My goal is to deliver a sustainable and practical diversity program to make Sun Life an even better place to work.”

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth accumulation products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2007, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of US $426.8 billion.

SLPC 18597 (3/08)

Exp. 3/09