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

Recorded live on 'Talent Thursday' at the 2019 global Sibos conference in London, organised by SWIFT, our host Julia Streets is joined by Oxford University PhD Student Kristina Kämpfer, outlining the findings of her diversity research paper, sponsored by the SWIFT Institute. Erin Thornton, Coordinator of the SWIFT Diversity and Inclusion Network and the Sibos STAR Scholarship Programme, explains the importance of sponsoring rising female talent and Julia talks to Carmen Arias González, Laurissa Wiitala and Ibiyemi Okuneye of the cohort. Together they explore what rising talent requires from employers in order to attract, retain and support them on their career journeys. Finally, Rebecca Sterling and Jean-Philippe Richard-Charman, competitors in the SWIFT Institute student challenge, discuss what entering talent demands of financial services organisations and how firms and institutions can engage with each other.

Pips Bunce, Head of Global Markets, Technology, Core Engineering Strategic Programmes at Credit Suisse and Ed Thompson, founder and CEO of Uptimize explore neurodiversity and LGBTQI inclusion. As 20% of Generation Z identify as LGBTQI and organisations are beginning to gain greater understanding of neurodiversity across different sectors, they discuss how corporations can foster an environment in the workplace where all forms of diversity are at the core of inclusion.

In the final episode of Series Five, Dominie Moss, Founder of the Return Hub, and Reggie Nelson from Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM), discuss Returners and those beginning their career in the City. The two consider senior female returners heading back to financial services or transferring their skills to other sectors and reaching the talent pool of young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. They focus on what can organisations do to attract, motivate and retain young and returning talent, the future of work and how the outsourced recruitment process needs to change.

Against a backdrop of significant worldwide political and legislative changes, Erin Uritus, CEO of Out and Equal discusses the power of corporate advocacy and responsibility for protection of the LGBTQ+ community in the workplace. Erin talks about the commercial case for diversity and the benefits of campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights shared from her organisation’s work with global corporations. Through networking, training and examining areas of commonality, firms can make room for intersectionality, and by working with allies can create a safe space for staff to work through challenges relating to the workforce as a whole, and therefore embrace full inclusivity. This episode was recorded at the offices of BNP Paribas in London.

Karis Stander, Managing Director of Investment20/20, and Natalie Kenway, Acting Editor of Investment Week, discuss the changing perceptions and developments within investment management. Looking at the variety of roles within the industry, they highlight the significance of hiring those who may be least likely to enter this industry, due to barriers such as race and social mobility. They comment on the positive influence and impact hiring these employees has had on organisations and make recommendations to drive further change within investment management.

Noreen Niazi, Co-founder of Muslim Women Connect and Jon Terry, Partner at PWC discuss the importance of data in highlighting deficiencies and driving change. We consider how ethic minority and gender representation compare and how organisations can implement policies, strategies and accountability measures of impact. They each outline how they work with organisations to encourage a more inclusive and diverse working environment, focusing on attracting and retaining greater ethnic heritage diversity and the importance of effective networks and mentoring programmes.

Jacqueline de Rojas, President of techUK and the chair of the Digital Leaders board and Edie Lush, Executive Editor of Hub Culture and Host of Global GoalsCast, discuss the 2018 UK Government Review of Post-18 Education, the tech skills gap and what this may mean for the UK and economy in general. In this wide ranging discussion, they explore how closely inclusion is tied to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, all part of the the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This special episode of DiverCity Podcast was recorded at the Innovate Finance Global Summit 2019 in London, featuring interviews with CEOs from across the industry, each offering insights and opinions about where to find the talent the industry needs.

Hear highlights from Charlotte Croswell CEO of Innovate Finance and her further thoughts in her interview. Tom Bull of EY offers early insights into the fintech Census and Alison Rose of NatWest Holdings and RBS updates on the Prime Minister and Treasury’s review of female entrepreneurship ‘The Rose Review’.

Tim Levine of Augmentum Capital, Karen Rudich of FireDrake, Adam Toms of Openfin, Ben Brabyn of Level39 and Husayn Kassai of Onfido each offer a wide range of perspectives including how we can best educate and attract young people into fintech, tap into diverse pools, how businesses can scale up and accelerate their pace of change, the changing face of leadership in tech, what we need post Brexit and more.

In the final episode of Series 4, Funke Abimbola MBE, prominent legal diversity champion and campaigner and recently appointed Director of Operations, Conflict Resolution at Mishcon de Reya LLP, and Alison Choy, chemistry and biochemistry academic and Head of Machine Learning at Starling Bank, explain their career journeys. They discuss the high levels of female attrition between junior and senior levels in the legal profession, the potential for attracting talent from outside the more traditional financial services hiring profile, the importance of intersectionality and working with LGBT networks, why visible representation and relatable role models matter and the value of enabling young people to experience workplace culture as early as possible.

Alicia Millar, Director of Learning and Development (EMEA) at Reed Smith, NED of MyGWork and co-chair of the LGBT chapter of The Network of Networks (TNON), and Dan Ricard, Transformation Lead in PwC's UK Sales & Marketing function and founder and co-chair of The Network of Networks (TNON), discuss inclusive leadership, diversity of thought and opinion, why networks are no longer exclusively for large organisations and setting appropriate KPIs for networks. They also discuss how organisations must truly understand and value the very core of their people, explore intersectionality (for example ethnic minority LGBT+ employees) and collaboration between other segments and networks. They also explore the use of the term ‘allies’ and highlight the importance of creating 'callout’ cultures.