This event was our flagship Thought Leadership event of the year and boy did it live up to expectations. We had an incredible line up including Iris Bohnet (Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government and Academic Dean of Harvard Kennedy School), Gwyneth Nurse (Director for Financial Services at HMT), Hilary Spencer (Director of the Government Equalities Office), Helen Bierton (Head of Retail and SME Banking at Starling Bank) and Yasmine Chinwala (Partner at New Financial).
The event began with Iris presenting her latest research talking both cross industry and across different countries. A fascinating insight into behavioural design ensued. Iris made the point that it is incredibly hard to de-bias mindsets and instead we should aim to de-bias systems. She then gave some practical examples of how this can be done both as an individual and as a firm.
Tracy Watkinson interviewed Iris where we learned that as well as being a leading behavioural economist she is also a mother and encounters the same issues of balancing work and home life. Her wise words rung true with the room. “You can’t do it all, all the time”. A nod to the fact that sometimes in life you need to step back and other times you should wholeheartedly step forward. We also gained a brief insight of what it’s like to be a women in the world of academia.
The panel joined the stage and shared views from the Government Equalities Office and HMT. It was fascinating to hear the overall strategic view as well as the more granular detail on the latest Gender Pay Gap information from Yasmine at New Financial. Helen Bierton from Starling gave an honest account of the challenges that they are facing and practical examples of how they are tackling these issues. There were some excellent questions from the audience and some great responses from the panel.
You can watch a video of the event via YouTube.
Distinguished Speakers