WIBF President – Serve on the boards of academies | #VirtualPEP

It is hard to believe that November has arrived. October has been such an energising month of personal achievement and organisational development for WIBF, reaching out and seizing opportunities for us to grow within and beyond our field.

“Last week, Miranda Abraham, Head of WIBF Boards programme, and I had an incredibly positive meeting with Education Secretary Nicky Morgan’s team in order to build on the initiative we put in place with previous Education Secretary, Michael Gove. It will provide opportunities for WIBF members, irrespective of seniority – from millennial to seasoned executive – to serve on the boards of academies. Further details in 2016.

“Whilst we have had some success in encouraging business women and professionals to take on board roles – 1/3 of all non-executives placed by Academy Ambassadors to date are female – it is clear there is much more work to be done and we look forward to working with WIBF to host a number of events aimed at encouraging more leading women to step forward for board roles: helping to raise aspirations and improve educational outcomes.” Kirsty Watt, Head of Academy Ambassadors at New Schools Network

I was honoured to be invited to the 2015 Milken Summit in London. The impressive Milken Institute is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to increasing global prosperity through widening access to capital, creating jobs and improving health. The first night, hosted by founder Michael Milken, saw wide-ranging geo political discussion focusing on Europe’s refugee crisis, while on the second day I participated in a panel ‘Women Entrepreneurs Who Mean Business’ with senior women from finance and beyond. The Milken Institute was very interested in the key issues that WIBF members face in the finance industry. The panel discussion reiterated that mentoring, sponsoring and role models are key for women’s career development and access to essential knowledge. It emerged that issues facing technology firms are very similar to those facing the finance industry such as the retention of millennials.

October saw our Personal Excellence Programme broadcast live from the London workshop to participants in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Northampton, Birmingham and Johannesburg. We were delighted to be able to share our excellent professional development resources and benefit an audience beyond those in the actual workshop in London, and indeed beyond UK borders.

“I am delighted that this first live broadcast has been a success. Everyone was engaged and participated fully. My sincere thanks go to the Barclays events and media services teams for making this happen.” – Simona Fionda, Personal Excellence Programme head

I am excited to tell you that in early 2016, we will launch a new and improved WIBF website, making it even easier for the industry to get in touch and find out more about what we offer. The website will be more intuitive and will offer useful new features. It is clear that our industry is going through phenomenal change from a technological perspective but also a communications perspective – behaviour is very different to that of 20 years ago, and this is not only due to social media. The financial crisis left us in a state of flux but times are changing again. These are the times when WIBF with our network of support, advice and inspiration is invaluable.

– Janet Thomas, WIBF President”