One Young World 2022 – Home from Manchester

Last week, Rachel Harbers and Sarah Woodard, Co-Chairs of the Future Leaders Shadow Board, represented Women in Banking & Finance as delegates at the One Young World Summit in Manchester, UK.

WIBF were proud to be a partner of the Summit as the UK’s longest standing gender network and to have the opportunity to host a workshop on our Accelerating Change Together (ACT) Research Programme.

This year’s Summit brought together 2000 young leaders, both in-person and virtually, from over 195 countries and multiple sectors, working to accelerate social impact.

Day 1 – OYW Opening Ceremony

What an incredible start to an unforgettable week! Over 2,000 delegates gathered in Bridgewater Hall for an evening of speeches and performances from local Manchester artists. We were inspired to hear keynote speeches from Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland, Sir Bob Geldof and Meghan Markle. Each shared anecdotes from their respective careers across politics, music and film, and reiterated the importance of youth leadership and possessing the confidence to enact change.

Meghan Markle spoke about her passion to improve gender equality; a poignant setting given Manchester was home to the Suffragette movement over 100 years ago. The ceremony culminated in a flag bearing ceremony, highlighting the individual nations in attendance (over 195!), but also serving as a reminder that all delegates shared a united mission: to create a more sustainable and better future for the planet that we all call home.

Following the ceremony, we attended a panel discussion and networking event, supported by the U.S. Embassy, London. The special guests included two inspirational female speakers; Sylvia Earle, a marine biologist who spearheaded research on marine ecosystems with an emphasis on exploration and conservation, and Jamad Fiin, a US basketball player and social media influencer who has inspired young Muslim women by playing while wearing a hijab.

This was a great opportunity to meet with delegates from the UK and to begin to spread the awareness of WIBF!

Day 2- WIBF’s insights on The Future of Work

The highlight of day two, along with the speeches and sessions, was introducing WIBF and our mission to the OYW community via a workshop.

We applied in a competitive process and were proud to be selected. Anna Lane, President of WIBF, travelled up to Manchester to host a workshop alongside us for delegates on the Accelerating Change Together (ACT) Research Programme.

The ACT research is the UK’s first cross-sector initiative designed to bring a gender lens to the UK financial services industry. The four-year programme harnesses the collective input from banking, asset management, professional services, fintech and insurance to address pressing gender and inclusion challenges. It has been quoted in the Financial Times, BBC, Bloomberg and New York Times and the programme’s next step is to inspire firms to try these actions in-house and to continue a dialogue with WIBF on their successes and findings.

There is always anticipation before an event waiting for the doors to open …. we were glad to have a very engaged and global group of delegates who attended our workshop. The discussion focused on the future of work, the impact of hybrid working and how to recruit and retain a pipeline of female talent. The same themes of the importance of mentoring, advocacy and visibility came up again and again. Volunteering with a UK-based gender network, it was insightful to see how the barriers perpetuate on a global scale which anchored our discussion on how public sector, private sector and NGOs, are tackling diversity and inclusion challenges. Best practices were shared, and debate inspired.

We look forward to staying in touch with our workshop delegates and have invited them to join our community as members of WIBF and the Future Leaders Network due to launch this year.

Day 3 – The Power of Ethical Leadership

The Plenary Sessions were some of the most impactful speaking sessions and highlight of the One Young World Summit. The sessions showcased Delegate Speakers whose work and stories spoke to the topic at hand. The 2022 topics were:
Conflict Prevention: How can we prevent conflicts?

• Gender Equality: How can we accelerate action to achieve gender equality?
• Oceans: How can we safeguard and restore the world’s oceans?
• Ethical Leadership: How can we be and develop ethical leaders – more responsible and effective than previous generations?
• Health: How can we ensure health equity for all?

It became evident throughout the Summit that ethical leadership is a critical skillset and required now more than ever in an increasingly polarised and popularised world. Despite the current conflicts, such as the Russian / Ukraine war, we were reminded by Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica, that our generation is the most educated the world has ever seen. The power of education is universal across the world; change for the better can occur, and hope is being placed in the hands of our generation. We hear repeatedly that age should not be a limiting factor for leadership and responsibility; and this was most evident hearing from the One Young World ‘Youth Politician of the Year’ Award winners and the positive impact they are having in their respective countries.

However ethical leadership is not just important in the political sphere. We were reminded of how business leaders have a platform to be role models for their employees and customers on ethical leadership. John Roberts, CEO of AO.com, shared his advice on this topic. He spoke about the importance of spending time to train, develop and invest in his employees and the belief that talent is evenly distributed but opportunity is not. At the end of the day, we should all consider our last impression on our colleagues, friends and family with the divisions we make in our work lives and if we can make the world a better place.

This sentiment was summed up best by BMW sessions on sustainable project creation:

‘If you want to be the best in the world, you have to be the best for the world’.

Day 4 – Closing Ceremony

It was bittersweet coming to the final day of the Summit, knowing we had one more action-packed day of speakers, sessions and networking with delegates. We had a meet and greet with our European cohort and heard about how we can continue to partner with OYW as Ambassadors moving forward.

Due to the sad news of The Queen’s passing on Thursday evening our closing ceremony was cut short due to protocol. However, not before the hosts of the event screened The Queen’s speech at the COP26 Evening Reception. It was poignant as her speech called out the important of youth leadership and action on climate change. It felt like coming full circle on the message we had heard from influential politicians, activists and counsellors throughout the Summit. We would like to share the video with you here.

As Friday came around, our bags were packed for our journey back home to London. Hearts heavy but inspired and ready to continue championing gender equality throughout financial services in the UK.