DiverCity Podcast: Talking Diversity and Inclusion in the Financial Services Industry

In this episode host Julia Streets is joined by Margaret Franklin, President and CEO of Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA) and Fiona Hathorn, board advisor and Founder and CEO of Women on Boards UK. They discuss the importance of reporting, transparency and accountability of boards and how to help diverse talent find its route to the boardroom. They consider why diverse boards and executive team representation add a competitive commercial advantage and ultimately drive economic prosperity. Together they endorse gender diversity – known as the universal diversity – setting out and welcoming the key principles of the new DEI Code from the CFA Institute. As the ’Social’ and ‘Governance’ in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies gain prominence, they recognise and support their drive towards removing the hurdles and legacy excuses for homogeneity.

To celebrate the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics we honour the might and tenacity of every disabled athlete. In this special episode host Julia Streets returns to the ever important disability discussion. She is joined by eight time (at the time of the recording!) Paralympic champion Sophie Christiansen, who is also a software developer at Goldman Sachs. They Julia discuss the recruitment and employment of disabled people, flexible working, the application of the UK’s Equality Act, best practice and the use of technology within financial services. In the second part of the interview, Julia welcomes Christiane Link, the Founder and Director of Ortegalink, an inclusion and accessibility consultancy. Julia and Christiane discuss mobility, disability culture and the importance of valuing disabled financial services customers and outlines best practice for recruiting and retaining disabled employees.

With an estimated 1.7 billion people in the world without access to financial products or banking, this episode looks at social inclusion through the democratisation of finance. Host Julia Streets is joined by Noha Shaker, Founder and Secretary General of the Egyptian FinTech Association and the elected Vice President of the Africa FinTech Network, and Professor Monica Singer, South Africa’s Lead for ConsenSys, who was also the first CEO of South Africa’s Central Securities Depository (CSD), Strate (Pty) Ltd which she set up in 1998. Together they discuss ways to create a more globally inclusive financial industry, the potential and opportunities for this, the next and future generations in Africa and the Middle East. They give emphasis to the importance of encouraging girls to pursue careers in tech, women-led businesses and the breakdown of bias against 51% of the world’s population.

This episode discusses diversity and inclusion through data, leadership, insights and bias-free scientific intelligence. Host Julia Streets is joined by Rana Gujral, an entrepreneur speaker, investor and CEO at Behavioural Signals and Anna Tan, a leading Asian corporate transformation and leadership coach and consultant. This two part interview starts by considering data, behaviour, Artificial Intelligence, learning mindsets and the importance of linking these to diversity with Rana Gujral. In the second interview, Anna Tan discusses leadership, the mindsets of leaders, the science of diversity and inclusion, and how teams can achieve high performance by fully embracing diverse thinking.

This episode discusses the Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce, backed by the UK Treasury and the City of London Corporation, with the mandate to increase socio-economic diversity at senior level in professional and financial services. Host Julia Streets is joined by Yasmine Chinwala, a partner at capital markets think tank New Financial and Chris Woolard, Financial Services Partner at EY and Chair of its Global Financial Services Regulation Network. They discuss the rate of progression to senior management, of ethnic minorities and women, looking at data from the Women in Finance Charter. They discuss the importance of socio-economic inclusion and share views on what the finance sector can do to appeal, recruit and retain staff from the widest and sometimes overlooked sections of society, through inclusive initiatives.

This episode focuses on a detailed discussion about educating businesses and creating the best experience for transgender and gender diverse people in the workplace; from coming out, transitioning and workplace benefits of trans employees. Host Julia Streets is joined by Celia Daniels, Chief Programmes Officer for Trans Can Work and Meaghan Crockett, Life Event Services consultant at Bank of America. They discuss the partnership between the two organisations in order to prepare and protect trans and gender diverse people in the corporate workspace, through policies and best practice. The three share views on the pending legislation in the United States and the invisibility of trans people in India.

This in-depth discussion focuses on the rise of the #StopAsianHate campaign and the United States Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, when President Biden signed the bipartisan Covid 19 hate crime legislation. Host Julia Streets is joined by Jeff Le, Vice President of Public Policy and External Affairs for Rhino from Washington D.C. and Nick Parker, Lawyer at Baker McKenzie from London. They thoughtfully navigate through the uncomfortable but long overdue conversation around discrimination against East Asians, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the lack of representation from a corporate and personal perspective. They continue by addressing how stereotypical perceptions of the ‘model minority’ can deter career progression, and the importance of how changing the mindsets of managers and leaders can lead to positive change and inclusion.

This in-depth discussion focuses on the India Work Equality Index, India’s first comprehensive benchmarking tool for employers to measure their progress on lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) inclusion in the workplace. Host Julia Streets is joined by Ram Sinha, Co-Founder of Pride Circle, India and Vicky Hayden, Head of Global Partnerships at Stonewall, UK. They discuss civil society from an LGBT perspective, representation in products and services, benchmarking and standards of business conduct across the world. The three share views about the importance of inclusion, the value of collective initiatives and why indexes matter, examining the challenges and realities of upholding global values and how this translates into local impact.

In light of the recent #StopAsianHate campaign; this in-depth discussion focuses on East Asian visibility and representation within financial services. Host Julia Streets is joined by Millie Gillon, the Global Head of Client Experience, MD Retail Banking, Standard Chartered and Sun-Hee Park, an International Capital Markets lawyer and founder of the East Asian Lawyers Organisation. They unravel the pejorative and appropriate ethnographic language and definitions of the East Asian community worldwide, and the theory and practice around role models and representation. The discussion moves on to the psychological safety of groups, networks and forums, such as the East Asian Lawyers Organisation, and the portrayal of East Asians as the invisible or ‘model minority’.

Host Julia Streets is joined by Sir Kenneth Olisa, Founder and Chairman of Restoration Partners, Founder and Chairman of the Aleto Foundation. Freeman of the City of London, Liveryman and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, Patron of Thames Reach and Paul Sesay, CEO at Precedent Group, Founder and CEO of Inclusive Companies Limited, Black Leaders, the National Diversity Awards and the Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List. In this wide ranging discussion they discuss the importance of prioritising the recruitment, selection and promotion of alternative talent - particularly in tech - as key to navigating challenging times and rebuilding the economy. They talk about the risks of bias in redundancy decision making, the significance of black male role models in the context of tackling institutional racism, the value of board diversity and the competitive advantage that social mobility can bring.