Winners

WINNER:

Veronica Poole – Deloitte

Veronica has demonstrated an impact far beyond her actual role as an accountant. She has shown leadership and is a global champion of aligning corporate reporting and purpose to the climate change agenda. It is visible that Veronica has a strong personal advocation and passion for tangible action and implementation. She has shown focus on delivering high-quality and transparent information on climate change. Veronica has leveraged her internal profile and influence, to initiate collective action. The introduction of an online learning programme and training, and the elevation of climate change reporting as a key matter for audits, are proof of her great work and efforts. Externally, her determination to drive change and action by providing resources to help NEDs put into practice climate governance, and by promoting a coordinated response to climate change, is truly remarkable.

Shortlist

Becky Johnson – Refinitiv

Clare Weston – Blackstone

Lucy Boyne-Williams – St. James’s Place Wealth Management

Urvashi Shah – 3ES Accountants

Valentina White – Tax Spot Group

Veronica Poole – Deloitte

Sponsored by J.P. Morgan

JOINT WINNERS:

Khayala Eylazova – PwC & Amy Mitchell – Leathwaite

Khayala has demonstrated a very clear focus on D&I both internally and externally. She has taken direct actions to create new areas of engagement and shows clear commitment to empower women and create change in the workplace. As part of PwC, Khayala is the founder of the firmwide “Women in Insurance Technology” programme and network. The objectives of this programme are to attract the best people to work in technology within the insurance industry; inspire a new generation to consider insurance and technology as a career choice; and to retain and support the progression of talented women in the UK.

Amy – Whilst many areas of finance are lonely for women, IT can to be one of the most isolated.  Amy’s top-notch career, successful international postings and her work for Girls Who Code are for our judges, standout points. Amy was able to bring the experiences she had with Girls Who Code to the UK. Her vision for the benefits to the UK economy of a domestic talent pool which is currently under-represented and untapped, is real evidence of her female advocacy.  Her commitment and drive to help young girls who become excluded/self-selecting to avoid tech jobs is truly impressive.

Shortlist

Amy Mitchell – Leathwaite

Carla Morris – 1762 from Brewin Dolphin

Emily Nichols – Willis Towers Watson

Jill Zucker – American Express

Khayala Eylazova – PwC

Laura Garry – Chase de Vere

Lydia Guett – Cambridge Associates

Maisha Sumah – SheWalksInValue

Oluchi Ikechi – Accenture

Sponsored by Fitch Ratings

WINNER:

Tali Shlomo – former Chartered Insurance Institute

All submissions were very impressive however Tali’s stood-out specifically because she has achieved long-term outcomes. Tali has had an impact on the way people think by actually going to the root of the problem, avoiding tokenisation and ensuring ideas are actually acted upon with a positive outcome. She fiercely drove the organisation, Chartered Insurance Institute, to excel in its culture, performance, and ability to attract and retain high calibre individuals – despite competing for talent in the increasingly competitive EC3 marketplace. Our judges identified good behaviours and early movement from the CII under her leadership and she has shared her voice and platform externally in a multitude of ways.

Shortlist

Amrita Aurora, former American Express

Christine Chow – Federated Hermes

Elena Koycheva – BlueBay Asset Management

Eugenia Campbell – RSM UK

Guinevere Taylor – RBC Global Asset Management

Lindsay Law – NatWest Group

Marion Bentata – State Street

Tali Shlomo – former Chartered Insurance Institute

Tamara Gillan – The WealthiHer Network

WINNER:

Rosie Guest – Apex Group

Rosie Guest is commended for her introduction of a “Shadow Executive Committee” at Apex Group – A new team of high achieving, non-exec leaders from around the world that are given the experience of being involved in c-suite discussions and business strategies. They bring diversity into every decision and there is a 50/50 split between men and women. With the representation of a diverse set of younger senior leaders, they are able to bring different perspectives, challenge the status quo and demonstrate how diversity can help improve business decisions and drive innovation.

Shortlist:

Claire Limon – Openwork Limited

Jennie Koo – Capital One

Louise Fletcher – Charles Stanley

Mary Waring – Wealth for Women

Rosie Guest – Apex Group

Ruth McMaster – Deutsche Bank

Zoe Mills – NHBC

WINNER:

The Diversity Project’s Neurodiversity Workstream – HSBC Global Asset Management

Meike Bliebenicht and HSBC’s ground-breaking work in the neurodivergence space is both inspiring and shines a light on an under-recognized and under-appreciated aspects of workplace diversity. With 10% of UK population being estimated to be neurodivergent, a better understanding of this and the creation of better work environments will positively influence their contribution to the organisation and to their teams. Meike and her team work to encourage neurodivergent individuals to be more confident and to direct their energy from covering up to showcasing their skills. There is clearly work being done to foster a culture of greater awareness and to provide training and education within HSBC AM via events, roundtables and other platforms to facilitate the sharing of experiences and stories. This initiative is helping to empower this under-recognised community and has advanced a wider industry understanding and awareness of it.

Shortlist:

Allianz Insurance

Rise – Bank of Ireland UK

Blend Network

Women and Money Campaign – Fidelity International

Balance Network Steering Group – Financial Conduct Authority

The Diversity Project’s Neurodiversity Workstream – HSBC Global Asset Management

Careers and Talent Outreach Campaign – Investment20/20

LSEG Proud LGBT+ Network  – London Stock Exchange Group

RBS Women – NatWest Group

WINNER:

J.P.Morgan Asset Management

Our nominated organisations have gone to great lengths to establish better initiatives and programmes to improve their culture, policies, and their diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels. This year’s winner, J.P.Morgan Asset Management, impressed our judges with their introduction of many initiatives designed to increase the gender diversity in every aspect of their workforce, notably with “Women on the Move”. This initiative offers women a platform to exchange ideas and to collectively explore ways to support their career development. In addition to this, the organisation’s outstanding initiative called “ReEntry Program” is an inspiration to all businesses. They are allowing women who have been out of work for long periods to get back into work with the right level of support – it is an outstanding initiative.

Shortlist

Deutsche Bank

Fitch Group

INDOS Financial Limited

J.P.Morgan Asset Management

MUFG Investor Services

Northern Trust

PwC

RBS Group / NatWest Group

Satago

Sponsored by Scotiabank

WINNER:

Harriet Parker – Liontrust

We celebrate Harriet’s career in the ESG sector. Our judges have recognised her strengths through excellent fund performance and engagement with key ESG themes including cleaner industries and long-term viability. Harriet is passionate about creating a more sustainable economy through capital markets and does this by selecting stocks for the funds that are positively exposed to key sustainable investment themes i.e. linked to making the world cleaner, healthier and more resilient. She also looks at improving the practices of companies across the portfolios and promoting sustainable, responsible finance more broadly. 

Shortlist:

Alina Donets – Allianz Global Investors

Audrey Ryan – Kames Capital / Aegon Asset Management

Dorothee Goerz – Aremus Partners

Hannah Johnson – BlackRock

Harriet Parker – Liontrust

Helen Steers – Pantheon

Joanna Crompton – JP Morgan Asset Management

Laetitia Girolami-Boyer – BNP Paribas

Sarah Norris – Aberdeen Standard Investments

Tatjana Greil-Castro – Muzinich & Co.

Sponsored by London Stock Exchange

WINNER:

GSK – Team led by Roselyne Cornut

Congratulations to Roselyne and her fantastic team. With a myriad of projects delivered that aim at ensuring accurate financials, making GSK’s systems and processes easier and strengthening business partnering, they have done a great job. Our judges highlighted some achievements such as the introduction of ‘One Finance’ to remove siloed behaviour and encourage collaboration. Here transparency, respect and integrity is being promoted and delivered. Colleagues and teams who show courage, promote teamwork and take accountability are encouraged. Roselyne has shown that she is committed to developing the capability of her team and improving their overall talent. Gender targets have been introduced that are more demanding than GSK’s corporate target with the objective of increasing the pipeline of female managers into leadership positions.

Shortlist:

CapitalRise – Team led by Uma Rajah

Close Brothers Motor Finance – Team led by Rebecca McNeil

Fidelity International – Team led by Cara Hewitt

Fitch Group – Team led by Clara Hughes

GSK – Team led by Roselyne Cornut

International Private Finance – Team led by Fiona Watts

Microsoft – Team led by Jane Hesmondhalgh

Refinitiv – Team led by Hayley Bobrige

Suse Linux Software – Team led by Maria Enrica Angelone

Starling Bank – Team led by Helen Bierton

Sponsored by Refinitiv

WINNER:

Lucy Mullins – Stepladder

Lucy Mullins is doing phenomenal work with what judges described as a highly disruptive model that addresses a major issue in the UK – Generation Rent, helping them solve the challenge of buying a first home by using tech enabled approaches for saving and for credit. The offering is achieving strong growth and creating robust partnerships to address policy change. Key takeaways for our judges were:

1) A simple and effective P2P community that motivates and encourages as well as educates and empowers people to raise their property deposits faster;

2)Reporting members’ monthly payments to Equifax so they can improve their credit scores; 

3)Delivering a practical and accessible solution to encourage responsibility for financial wellbeing and building strong savings habits; 

4) Outstanding growth of participants interested in joining the platform and a significant increase in applications per month;

5) High innovation with a focus on human engagement – connecting emotional intelligence with fintech.

For these reasons and more, Lucy Mullins is our Fintech Champion of the Year!

Shortlist:

Arya Taware – FutureBricks

Basak Azaz – Money Pot

Emma Steeley – AccountScore

Francesca Carlesi – Molo

Geilan Malet-Bates – Plenitude

Georgia Stewart – Tumelo

Heather O’Gorman – Thistle Initiatives

Ipshita Saha – Digilytics AI

Lucy Mullins – Stepladder