President’s Message – January 2023

I can’t believe it’s been two years since I became WIBF’s President and CEO. It’s been and continues to be an incredible time in my life. And I believe 2023 will top 2022, despite the high standards we’ve set ourselves, due to WIBF’s sizeable ambitions.

You should have seen some (or all) of our 2022 achievements. These include the recruitment of our first employee, Nicky King, who led a 90% growth in corporate partnerships; the launch of our SME membership category; the 2022 Awards for Achievement, where the new categories helped us celebrate more nominees and winners via a record attendance (c. 700 online, plus 400 in person) and 2.7 million views on social media; AND the launch our third report for the Accelerating Change Together (ACT) research programme meant once again WIBF was in the mainstream and international press. This list could go on…

We are not letting up in 2023! In the second half of February, our new digital platform goes live. This is so much more than the public-facing website you’ll soon see, given the technology behind it enables us to expand the number of our specialist communities, as well as allow us to automate tasks we’ve been managing manually (e.g. matching 260 pairs of mentors and mentees in 2022). It will also enable us to better care for our larger, long-term corporate partners – support which is critical to our ongoing success.

It’s also essential that we expand and invest in our branch network. Two thirds of financial services employees are not based in London and we are the only gender network with a reach across all four home nations. But that expansion is focused on our footprint and our activities. So, the launch of ACT’s GOOD FINANCE toolkit involves a multi-location roadshow; our fantastic mentoring programme will be stepped up nationally and regionally; our trailblazing awards will be bigger and bolder again for their 25th anniversary; and our Future Leaders Shadow Board has ambitious plans for our new graduate engagement strategy and Future Leaders’ Network.

Before I come to a close, I wanted to share a personal update on a couple of incredible influencers who both do so much for WIBF. Yesterday saw Dr Heather Melville OBE become the University of York’s seventh Chancellor. At the same event, Dame Alison Rose received an honorary degree of Doctor of the University. More details on both of these achievements are included in this post, but I wanted to share how much these two (among others) have proactively supported me publicly and privately during my tenure at WIBF, and have individually gone above and beyond to inspire thousands of other women too. Thank you Heather and Alison.

In closing, I wanted to set the scene for 2023 for you all. Our ambition over the years has grown, but the management team now has a collective vision: to make WIBF the biggest gender network in the UK. It’s based on a growth plan that will not just benefit WIBF’s existing members, partners and sponsors, but should drive more change across the UK financial services industry. I hope you will join the team in ensuring our vision becomes a reality.