Women in Securities Finance on a mission

Women in Securities Finance on a mission

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By Elaina Kim Benfield, Arianne Collette and Jill Rathgeber, global tri-chairs and founders of Women in Securities Finance

What has Women in Securities Finance been able to accomplish in 2020?

Professional and Leadership Development Programs

Our vision for 2020 has been to continue to focus on professional and leadership development programs to promote the growth of women in the Securities Finance industry – despite the global pandemic. In February, we partnered with the Information Management Network (IMN) to host an event at the IMN Beneficial Owners’ International Securities Finance and Collateral Management Conference. Debbie O’Connell, an LPGA Professional and the President of Live Positive, LLC and Golf Positive, LLC, facilitated an interactive seminar that highlighted the tools necessary to develop personal and professional leadership skills, and the importance of effective leadership to drive business results.

London Chapter Launch

Our 2020 plans also included the launch of our London chapter. Upon receiving unanimous positive feedback from our London colleagues on the need to create a global community of Women in Securities Finance, Harpreet Bains and Ina Budh-Raja agreed to serve as our London Chapter leaders. Harpreet and Ina were instrumental in launching the London Chapter and bringing recognition to the Women in Securities Finance group — which now has over 125 members — at JPM’s annual financing and collateral conference. The London chapter has also partnered with the ISLA Council for Sustainable Finance (ICSF) because we believe our values and goals are aligned. We very much support ICSF’s mission and are excited to collaborate and provide input on best practices, especially around promoting diversity and inclusion in the securities finance industry.

Toronto Chapter Virtual Event

In June, the Toronto Chapter of Women in Securities Finance held its first virtual event. MJ Schuessler and Roanna Kim, Toronto chapter leads, and Elaine Hannigan of Scotiabank, organised and hosted a video conference event sponsored by Scotiabank. The event was originally scheduled for the CASLA conference, however, MJ and Roanna quickly transitioned to provide this event to a broader audience of Women in Securities Finance through video. We had almost 150 attendees join the webcast to hear Tamara Tatham share her inspirational story of being a two-time Olympian and the first woman in Canada to coach an NBA G-League team, Raptors 905. Her powerful journey of goal setting, preparation and dedication were inspiring.

What are you hearing from your members and what are you thinking about for the group going forward?

We continue to adapt to this new “normal” and have refocused our efforts to be virtual and flexible. We have had group calls with all of the chapter leads (New York, Boston, Chicago, Toronto and London) to strategise how we can continue to reach our members and offer content that would be beneficial in the current environment. We plan to continue to offer content that focuses on professional and leadership development, how to effectively navigate this new work environment, and discuss the social unrest that we have seen across the globe. Although we find ourselves in a different circumstances that anticipated, we continue to adapt and promote our mission to create a community for Women in Securities Finance and to advocate for diversity and inclusion in the our industry. We are also eager to make philanthropy one of the core components of Women in Securities Finance.

What message would you like to leave to your members?

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. It has been a year filled with uncertainty and social unrest, but it is a historic time and an opportunity for all of us to unite and stand together. It has further highlighted the need for groups like Women in Securities Finance and validates our mission of creating a diverse and inclusive community to foster connections and promote the growth of women in our industry. We are looking forward to the day when social distancing is no longer necessary and we can all get together again. Although we have not been able to connect in person, we are now, and always will be, connected by these shared experiences. We encourage everyone to reach out and check in on each other. Continue to share your struggles, challenges, and successes. Now more than ever, the members of this group need to be there for one another and support each other, not only professionally but also personally, because no one is going through this experience alone. This is a rare moment in time when we are all, truly, in this together.

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