We are delighted to announce the launch of the 2019 WIBF Awards For Achievement. After the most successful awards ever last year, we are really looking forward to yet another amazing year.
The Awards for Achievement luncheon and award ceremony will be held on held on Friday 14th June 2019 at the London Hilton on Park Lane. These prestigious annual awards highlight the inspirational work taking place every day in pursuit of diversity and excellence in the banking and finance sector.
WIBF are delighted that the 2019 Awards Luncheon will sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds Banking Group have been a hugely supportive and engaged member of WIBF for many years, and shares WIBF’s belief that the Awards are a flagship event and opportunity to recognise the talent and achievements of women (and their male champions) in the sector.
This year sees the introduction of a new award - Tech Star Award. This award is to recognise the woman who is leading the Tech agenda, either through thought leadership, technical expertise or as an innovator. This individual will have demonstrated their passion and innovation in either a thought leadership project or who is leveraging technology to advance an improved gender equality; helping their financial services organisation move forward in terms of their digital agenda.
The Categories
Award for Achievement
Celebrates a woman who has achieved success within a senior role and who displays qualities of dynamism and daring in her working life. Candidates have also used their skills beyond their own career by either serving on boards of other organisations and/or by their involvement with furthering the interests of women in the workplace. This woman is considered a role model and is making a significant impact by driving change across the industry.
Sponsored by Citi
Champion for Women
Celebrates a seasoned professional, man or woman, who through personal commitment, application and dedication, continuously promotes and inspires women in the workplace to reach their full potential.
Sponsored by Credit Suisse
Team Award for Diversity
Celebrates team success in promoting gender diversity in the workplace. The team may be a business line team that has driven and embedded the diversity agenda or a specialist function (such as HR or Diversity & Inclusion) that partners the business to provide vision and framework for enabling diversity at work.
Young Professional
Celebrates a woman aged 35 or younger (on 28th February 2019) who is making an exceptional impact within an organisation. She is shaping her organisation, not only in terms of business success, but also in the example she provides to colleagues. This individual out-performs her peers across the industry and demonstrates huge drive for career success alongside energy for helping others.
Sponsored by Barclays
Tech Star Award
Celebrates this woman’s outstanding contribution within FinTech or Digital within Financial Services. This award is to recognise the woman who is leading the Tech agenda, either through thought leadership, technical expertise or as an innovator. This individual will have demonstrated their passion and innovation in either a thought leadership project or who is leveraging technology to advance an improved gender equality; helping their financial services organisation move forward in terms of their digital agenda.
Sponsored by
Headline Sponsor
Award for Achievement Award Sponsor
Young Professional Award Sponsor
Wendy Papworth, Director, Global Diversity and Inclusion, Barclays
Champion for Women Award Sponsor
Team Diversity Award Sponsor
Tech Star Award Sponsor
Shortlist Dinner Sponsor
David Fass, CEO EMEA, Macquarie Group
2019 Alumni Network
Keynote Speaker
Mark Carney
Governor of the Bank of England
In addition to his duties as Governor of the Bank of England, he serves as First Vice-Chair of the European Systemic Risk Board, a member of the Group of Thirty and the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum.
Mark Carney was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada in 1965. He received a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard University in 1988. He went on to receive a master’s degree in Economics in 1993 and a doctorate in Economics in 1995, both from Oxford University.
After a thirteen-year career with Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices, Mark Carney was appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada in August 2003. In November 2004, he left the Bank of Canada to become Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance. He held this position until his appointment as Governor of the Bank of Canada on 1 February 2008. Mark Carney served as Governor of the Bank of Canada and Chairman of its Board of Directors until 1 June 2013.
The Judges
Gerry Mallon
Chief Executive, Tesco Bank
Prior to joining Tesco, Gerry has held a number of leadership roles in financial services. Most recently Gerry served as Chief Executive Officer of Ulster Bank Ireland. Before joining Ulster Bank, Gerry served as Chief Executive Officer of Danske Bank UK (formerly Northern Bank) for eight years, successfully leading the organisation in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Earlier in his career, Gerry also held roles at Bank of Ireland, McKinsey & Co., and the UK Civil Service.
Outside of financial services, Gerry served as Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council at the University of Ulster, President of the Institute of Banking in Ireland, and he is currently Chairman of the Irish Football Association.
Gerry is an Economics graduate from Cambridge University and received his MBA from Ulster Business School. He is married to Una and has four children.
Vivienne Omaset
Managing Director, Global CAO, Citi Research
Vivienne is responsible for overseeing the financial, business and strategic goals for Research which employs staff in 25 locations around the world. In this role, Vivienne interfaces with Citi’s Function’s teams including Technology, Human Resources, Compliance, Legal etc.. Vivienne leads the employer of choice goal for Research with specific focus on gender diversity and emerging talent development advocating for an organised promotion and career management process.
Prior to this, Vivienne who joined Citi in 1998 was the Business Financial Controller for Fixed Income Global Markets in EMEA a role which was preceded by Product Controller in the FXLM Treasury Hub and Financial/Management Accountant in the Western European business covering four countries.
Vivienne is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BA (Hons) in Accounting. Vivienne is a member of Executive Committee for Research and is based in London.
Jay Sheth
Head of Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Virgin Money
Jay has previously worked for the European Commission, the CBI and the Treasury Committee as Senior Economist and Policy Specialist. This included a secondment to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards (PCBS) where he was one of the drafters of the PCBS final report.
Jay’s undergraduate degree was in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Anne’s College, Oxford and has a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics in the Economics of Transition in Central and Eastern Europe. He is also a Trustee of Hackney Empire.
Julie Baker
Head of Enterprise and Community Finance, NatWest
Julie is an external influencer and has chaired the BBA Diversity & Inclusion Council, the Access to Finance Group at the APPG for Women in Enterprise and sits on the NatWest Business Banking Board. Julie is presently working on some research for HM Treasury which examines the barriers faced by female entrepreneurs in the UK.
David Stringer-Lamarre
Chairman of the Institute of Directors and Managing Director, Fortis Consulting
David is a strong proponent of the benefits of diversity of thought. David holds several degrees including Law and an MBA.
David is a Court Member and Committee Chairman of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers in the City of London, an ancient Livery Company, first recorded in 1328. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (established 1903), a member of the Bank of England Institute of Directors Panel, Chairman of the Trade & Investment Group of the British Malaysian Society, the City of London FinTech Action Network, Tech London Advocates, The 48 Group Club ‘The Icebreakers’, the Austrian Business Circle, the Arab Women of the Year Awards Advisory Board, the Chinese Business Leaders Awards Judging Panel, the Imperial College Business School Alumni Financial Services Group, the Cass Business School Entrepreneurs Network and a Vice President of Blackheath (Rugby) Football Club, the world’s oldest.
Esra Turk
Managing Director & Head of Emerging Markets Origination for Markets, Barclays
Since joining Barclays in 2009, Esra has held various senior roles across Distribution, Structuring, Financial Resource Management and the Risk Solutions Group (RSG). She was also instrumental in the success of Barclays Non-Core (BNC) where she led the client management team which developed client-centric solutions that accelerated BNC’s derivative and asset divestments. Prior to BNC, Esra was the Head of Cross-Asset Sales and RSG for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.
Prior to Barclays, Esra was Country Head for Turkey at Dresdner Kleinwort. She started her banking career at Bankers Trust in Leveraged Buy-outs and Corporate Finance, and went on to work in Derivatives Marketing for Eastern Europe, Turkey and Portugal. Esra has also worked in a Structuring role within Emerging Markets Proprietary Trading at Credit Suisse, and was an Executive Director and Co-Head of Debt Capital Markets Origination and Liability Management for Eastern Europe and CIS at UBS.
Esra holds an MBA in Finance from UCLA Anderson School of Management and BA (Honours) in Business Administration from Bogazici University, Istanbul.
The 2019 WIBF Charity - The Fawcett Society
The Fawcett Society has been advancing women’s equality since 1866 when, aged just 19, Millicent Fawcett collected signatures on a petition for women’s votes. She went on to lead the suffrage campaign and made this cause her lifetime’s work, securing equal voting rights 62 years later. All proceeds from the collection at the WIBF Awards Luncheon this year will be donated to The Fawcett Society.
Today The Fawcett Society continues her legacy of fighting sexism and gender inequality through hard-hitting campaigns and impactful research. They believe in a society where no one is prevented from reaching their full potential because of their gender.
The Fawcett Society’s national campaigns shapes the debate and drives change.
• Close the gender pay gap – at current rates of progress it will take 62 years to close it
• Secure equal power from politics to the boardroom – women make up just 32% of MPs, 33% of councillors and only 6% of FTSE 100 CEOs
• Challenge attitudes and change minds – 20% of men aged 25-34 say women’s equality has ‘gone too far’
Help them achieve their vision for a society where women and girls are equal and truly free – and support a better future for all.
“Fawcett is delighted to be part of this years’ WIBF Awards. The WIBF values of ambition, development and leadership for women are so close to our hearts, our cause, and our many campaigns. We look forward to this event and sharing more about our work.”
Sam Smethers, Chief Executive of The Fawcett Society