How can we drive true diversity forward in fintech?
In the ‘Beyond Lip Service: Advancing True Diversity in Fintech’ panel at IFGS 2023, panelists Lord Christopher Holmes of Richmond MBE, Sonal Lakhani, global head of fintech programs and strategic initiatives for Barclays Innovation, Mary MacPherson, head of the financial sector at EY and Damien Shieber, board member of Progress Together, explored how financial services can promote inclusion.
Lakhani began by talking about female founders in fintech and promoting the inclusion of more female talent in the industry. She described an initiative by Barclays that carried out research on female fintech entrepreneurs and sought to encourage more women to get involved in the industry.
She stated about the program: “To put the stake in the ground and then see the scale of the support we give to our programs is encouraging. We remove the risk for female entrepreneurs to start a company and have a network to go to support at scale. I think it’s more than just the money, but the money makes us think that change is necessary.”
Macpherson explained how EY sets the tone for a genuine ambition for diversity by emphasizing diversity across gender, race, sexuality, social mobility and other intersections. She stated that guidance comes from management and setting expectations in the workplace that the workforce should be diverse is a significant step.
Transparency in the organization is key, highlighted Macpherson: “Transparency comes in many forms. I think that in many organizations one is around pay, it is an area of contention and sensitivity. There needs to be real transparency in the room about how people develop and are promoted. We work very hard on that at EY and we have made the campaign process 100% transparent and open at all stages. Employees can see how they upgrade and become a partner. Across all campaign panels we have a range of different people interviewing to ensure the bias is sorted out. There are a number of things that need to be activated, but there is a continuum. It cannot be done. It’s something we all have to focus on for a long time.”
Regarding the involvement of policy makers in diversity and inclusion initiatives, Lord Holmes stated that everyone has a role to play. He stated that fintech is about approaching opportunities with different perspectives and that there should be a more thorough understanding and cooperation between fintechs and decision makers.
“There should be much greater understanding in all policy making of this issue of intersectionality, whereas if we just call it being human, it becomes quite simple. None of us are one-dimensional; we all have multiple qualities. If we approach this through a understanding what is required of policy, what it takes for businesses to build, to enable inclusive environments, we should be at the point where we don’t have to worry about specific protected characteristics.”
Shieber talked about the search for talent and making jobs in the fintech industry attractive for people to join. He described a paradigm shift in how people view jobs, from wanting to work and needing to work to bridging the gap between the two by growing the product. Shieber observed that bringing people into the space requires making the human connections, engaging in sponsorships and storytelling that gives new talent real-life role models.
Shieber advised, “Use your conversations to really attract people to your businesses, but also to attract talent. The last thing I wanted to talk about is social mobility. This is a crucial element of DEI [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] now because all of you in this room will have a social business background, and it will vary, but it’s about how we can bring people together in this conversation.”
