WIBF Launches Belfast Branch

Women in Banking and Finance were proud to launch the WIBF Belfast last night, Thursday 25th March. Belfast is the seventh of WIBF’s regional branches which include London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol.

The virtual event was attended by over 50 people from Northern Ireland as well as four WIBF board members from across the UK.

We met the members of the Belfast Board:

Megan O’Hara – Co-Chair/Mentoring

Clare McFarlane – Co-Chair / Thought Leadership

Una Rooney – Head of Development

Hannah Hiles – Head of Mentoring

Co-Chair Clare McFarlane kicked off the event by welcoming everyone and explaining the purpose and goals of WIBF and what we offer all of our members.

Volunteering, inspiring others and taking action and being independent, which complement the WIBF Belfast values of being passionate, being inclusive, being ambassadors and being professional. The hope is that the Belfast branch will be a space for people to connect with each other, challenge inspire, share experiences, and learn from each other, as well as have fun!

Sally McFall, WIBF’s director of mentoring and development talked about the mentoring programme, available for all members. The WIBF Personal Excellence Programme (PEP) aims to support the ambitions of our members and develop their skills. The workshops are tailored for whatever stage of your career you are at. Our events are currently online meaning all members from all regions can attend. There will of course be i- person events in Belfast once current restrictions are lifted.

Liz Hughes, WIBF’s Director of Thought Leadership oversees all Thought Leadership activities, including our Accelerating Change Together (ACT) Research programme. She spoke about ACT and our thought leadership events, including Hot Topics and Distinguished Speakers.

WIBF’s Director of Membership, Natalie Gill then spoke, talking about how you can join as an individual member. Those who work for one of our Corporate Partners will receive a 10% discount on membership. If your company is not a member and you’d like to discuss the corporate membership options please get in touch via [email protected]

The Belfast board members then shared then shared their experiences of WIBF and how they came to get involved. There are lots of exciting plans ahead and if you’d like to get involved do reach out

Watch the Launch Event!