Memories of 2024

Gwen Faure, Director of Talent Retention

One of the absolute highlights of 2024 has been the launch of our mentoring platform, Pushfar—a project close to our hearts. This platform will help us to support career development through mentoring for our members and internally, streamline the operational process for us in the team. We can’t wait to bring you more benefits and exciting events in 2025.

This year, we’ve also delivered multiple runs of key mentoring programmes, including Intro to Mentoring sessions, the Mentor Curriculum, and Group Mentoring sessions around the country, creating opportunities for members to learn, grow, and support one another. These sessions have been incredibly rewarding to see in action, as they truly embody the power of mentorship in driving personal and professional development. Thank you to all our corporate partners who have kindly hosted us, and to the mentoring community who have joined us!

None of this would have been possible without our amazing Mentoring Team. A heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for your hard work, dedication, and passion. You’ve made 2024 such a remarkable year for mentoring at WIBF, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished together. Can’t wait to see what we can bring to the community in 2025!

Liyana Shirin, Future Leaders Shadow Board – Individual Memberships

In 2024, I attended the panel discussion Are Women Being Strategic Enough? Are We Over-Mentored and Under-Sponsored? hosted by Deutsche Bank in partnership with WIBF. This session was one of the most impactful events I’ve experienced, offering not just inspiring conversations but actionable insights.

After the session, a colleague and I reflected on the discussion, and it sparked their genuine interest in the events we host under the WIBF banner. This reaffirmed for me the importance of creating spaces for these transformative conversations that drive real engagement and change.

WIBF Scotland – collated by Milly Batchelor

In 2024, the WIBF Scotland board had a remarkable year, bringing members together for ten in-person events across Glasgow and Edinburgh. Among the highlights were the sell-out WIBF Award Celebration and Scotland’s first-ever half-day conference, both of which drew enthusiastic crowds and meaningful discussions. Alongside these in-person gatherings, the board hosted multiple events, including four impactful PEP sessions, offering coaching and expertise on the topics that matter most to our members.

One standout moment was the Financial Wellbeing with WIBF event held in May in Edinburgh. Attendees shared how the session inspired them to take action on their personal finances, making it a truly empowering experience. In Glasgow, the What is Mentoring Anyway? event tackled some of the top questions and tips for both mentors and mentees, encouraging many to join the WIBF mentoring program.

This year also saw the board exploring new themes, such as the Women in Leadership: Talking about Technology event, which delved into how technology is shaping the future of leadership. Additionally, discussions around celebrating International Men’s Day opened up new perspectives on how inclusivity can expand the breadth of our offerings.

As the year comes to a close, the Scotland board reflects with pride on the progress made and looks forward to an even more impactful 2025!

Beverley Brown, Management Board

Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of taking on the role of Alumni Community Lead, expanding and growing the community with the unwavering commitment and support of the amazing Olivia Coyle. Later, the incredible Lauren Cassells, Co-Chair of FLSB joined the team, and together, we built something truly special. In April 2024, it was a bittersweet moment to hand over the baton to the formidable Abisola Barber, during the fabulous in-person Alumni event hosted by Deutsche Bank and Ruth McMaster—a perfect setting to mark this exciting transition.

Another highlight of the year was establishing a partnership with NSPCC/Childline for our Annual Awards 2024. This collaboration brought a meaningful new dimension to WIBF’s mission, combining our efforts with theirs to make an even greater impact. I was delighted to learn that we raised an amazing £5,258 for the NSPCC through a silent auction, donations and raffles at our awards celebrations in London, Birmingham and Edinburgh. Additionally, partnering with Linda Russheim and the Diversity Project further underscored our commitment to inclusivity and broadening opportunities within the industry.

Looking ahead, I’m thrilled to be part of planning the creation and leading the WIBF’s Entrepreneur Community, set to launch in early 2025. It’s an exciting step forward, and I can’t wait to see how this new initiative will empower and inspire our members.

Jennie Koo, Branch Chair Representative and Executive Board Member

It’s been yet another incredibly busy year for the regions which is always delightful to see. I’m extremely proud of all the volunteers in the regions and their continued passion for driving forward the values of WIBF.

Just a few highlights from this year:

The reinvigoration of Belfast through interim co-chairs Siobhan Moran (who is also our central Head of Development) and Cathy Hawthorne who hosted a phenomenal in person relaunch event at KPMG

Our Scotland contingency came together across Edinburgh & Glasgow led by Jill Henderson and Lorna Lyon to host a number of in person events covering important topics such as navigating ESG to Women in Technology discussion and of course not forgetting the breathtaking annual awards event hosted by Phoenix.

Bristol and the South West region sadly said goodbye to Anita Kimber as the outgoing Chair, whom we thank immensely for all the efforts and passion injected into the region. The region continues to thrive with in person events being hosted to provide the much demanded networking.

Manchester also saw the departure of one of the co-chairs and founding member Nicola Higgins as she departed to focus on other volunteering commitments at the beginning of the year. The region is focussed on filling current vacancies on the regional board to be able to deliver an exciting 2025.

Birmingham expanded to cover the East Midlands with Capital One hosting our first East Midlands event on Inclusive Leadership and Birmingham hosted its first annual awards for achievement celebration in November.

It would be remiss of me to not have a mention of our incredible Norwich and East of England branch whereby our Future Leader of the Year Lauren Fuller has been a truly powerful force in coming through with continuous Personal Excellence Programme initiatives not only for 2024 but for the 2025 programme also.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our volunteers in the regions who often not only have a hectic day job to contend with but also hold down multiple roles within the WIBF ecosystem too. The Corporates and individual organisations who have continued to support WIBF and our volunteers play a huge part in our achievements too, for that I’d also like to express immense gratitude.

I’m very much looking forward to 2025 and even more partnerships being forged within the regions to be able to continue to inspire, connect and challenge to drive forward the gender balance needed in the industry.

Stephanie Ogunjimi, Mentoring Support | Birmingham

My WIBF highlight of the year as a volunteer was hosting the regional awards ceremony in Birmingham. It was great to see the event reaching out to the Midlands and seeing our regional members get together in person.

On a personal level, my highlight was the thought leadership event my organisation hosted on climate at the end of November. It was uplifting, thought provoking and inspiring. We had great feedback from attendees and we’re looking forward to seeing if we can arrange a follow up next year.

Future Leaders Shadow Board

2024 has been a transformative year for the Future Leaders Shadow Board (FLSB), marked by significant milestones and achievements. The team has grown to 13 dedicated members, introducing new pillars such as Governance and Individual Memberships to broaden our focus and impact. It’s also been a year of recognition, with FLSB members celebrated across multiple industry awards, including Brummell’s One to Watch list, European Women in Finance, We Are The City Rising Stars, and The Simplys Digital Communications Awards.

The Future Leaders Network (FLN) has also seen extraordinary growth, with membership tripling to an impressive 150 members. We launched the FLN LinkedIn Group, which now connects 120 members, and debuted the FLN Webpage to centralise resources and news. Our in-person events, hosted in collaboration with Lloyds and IG Group, reached over 200 attendees, fostering meaningful connections and discussions. Another proud moment was the launch of the SES/FLN Mentoring pilot, providing tailored mentorship opportunities for members.

Our Student Engagement Strategy reached new heights this year with the inaugural Student Awards, celebrating the achievements of talented undergraduates. Alongside this, the SES/FLN Mentoring pilot created new pathways for engagement and support. We mobilised a student-focused working group and established relationships with nine universities across the UK—a number that continues to grow as we expand our reach.

These milestones reflect the collective passion, hard work, and dedication of the FLSB team and its network. We’re excited to build on this momentum as we head into 2025!

Nicky King, Head of Corporate Partnerships

This year has been filled with incredible moments for WIBF, making it a difficult decision to pick just one highlight. However, if I had to choose, it would be the launch of The Inclusive Individual report, hosted by Mastercard back in March.

WIBF has a fantastic partnership with LSE and their research department and this report really brought it home how each and every one of us can change our attitude, our approach and the way we work on a daily basis to be more inclusive. If we all put the report findings into action, we could actually make a difference and change the workplace for good. Simple steps, but very effective.

Ras Gohil, Corporate Partnerships Manager

2024 has been a transformative year for WIBF, marked by significant growth and impactful initiatives. As the new Corporate Partnerships Manager working alongside Nicky King, I have witnessed firsthand the power of building strong relationships with our corporate partners and I am absolutely enjoying the role.

I am still volunteering for our mentoring arm and our mentoring programme saw remarkable expansion this year, with group sessions becoming accessible to all members and bespoke sessions tailored for individual partners. This growth has not only strengthened connections but also provided valuable resources for both mentors and mentees.

In addition to our mentoring efforts, we launched the ConneXion Hub, which fosters career development through collaboration with commercial partners. Our Social Mobility programme also expanded, inspiring younger generations to consider careers in finance. Looking ahead to 2025, I am particularly excited about the upcoming launch of the Women in Tech Community, which promises to create new opportunities and foster innovation within finance and technology.

As I reflect on the accomplishments of 2024, I am now looking  forward to 2025 and being part of WIBF’s initiatives in their ability to create meaningful change within the finance industry and beyond.

Katharine Carleton, Head of Operations

I returned to work with the WIBF Ops team at the end of the summer after a break of over 12 months for cancer treatment (if you’re wondering, I completed my course of immunotherapy and had an amazing response to it.  I’m now keeping my fingers crossed for my cancer to be undetectable for as long as possible!).

The Ops team is a very different team to the one I left, but it has been so good to be back!  Seeing Helen’s confidence managing WIBF social media, comms, jobs board, ConneXion Hub and all the other things she does has been such a joy to see, she is on fire! Emma has brought her steady hand confidently to the budget and Enya is becoming adept at managing the multitude of emails and requests that come into the Ops inbox on an daily basis as well as managing events.  Hannah joined the Ops team part-time in the summer and dusted off her event planning skills to support Karen, our volunteer lead, to organise our fantastic Awards for Achievement this year, with parties at venues in Birmingham and Edinburgh linked in to watch the Awards announced live from our London celebration (thanks to Coutts, Phoenix & Hays for hosting us in London, Edinburgh and Birmingham respectively).

Going into 2025 the Ops team will focus on improving how we organise ourselves and our tech to support WIBF volunteers and members to deliver WIBFs mission.

 

That just leaves us to say thank you to all of our volunteers, staff, members, corporate partners and the wider WIBF family for all their support in 2024. We look forward to an exciting and successful 2025!

If you want to get involved in 2025 you can become a member here or email [email protected] if you’d like to share any ideas with us.