Driving Positive Change in Financial Services

Driving Positive Change in Financial Services

As the world of financial services evolves, there is a huge opportunity for marketing and communications leaders to step up and play their role in driving positive change.

Vested UK was fortunate enough to hear the stories of three industry changemakers doing just that by hosting Financial Narrative’s Finding Your Voice to Drive Positive Change breakfast panel.

We welcomed Mona Patel, Head of Communications and Chair of the MBrace Committee at Metro Bank, Chantal Swainston, Founder of The Heard, and Deon Pillay, Head of Marketing Technology, Enablement, and Governance at Legal & General Investment Management, to our London HQ on a sunny July morning. The impressive panel was moderated by our very own Elspeth Rothwell, EMEA CEO of Vested UK, and was based on how each panellist had transformed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Aside from being a wonderful chance to catch up with Financial Narrative members old and new, we learned of the personal journeys each panellist has been on to drive change in the financial services industry, and the highs and lows that often accompany driving progressive initiatives.

It is no secret that the financial services industry doesn’t have an inclusive past. For example, Deon spoke of being the only person of colour on his floor at his first London job and having to hide his LGBTQ+ identity, while Chantal shared her frustration with fintech speaking events often being male-dominated.

It was inspiring to hear how all three embarked on DEI initiatives to spark change while continuing to excel in their day jobs. This inspiration evidenced by the lively QA and audience interplay afterwards. 

Chantal worked in financial services and fintech PR for almost a decade before founding The Heard, a public index of women and non-binary people who want to do more public speaking.

Deon works at Legal & General Investment Management and is the founder of InterInvest, a network of LGBTQ+ people and allies who work in the investment industry.

Mona, who previously took on a leadership role in DEI at Royal London, now works at Metro Bank and is Chair of Metro Bank MBrace, a group celebrating the business’s ethnic and cultural diversity.

The overarching takeaways from these brilliant people for anyone looking to champion DEI in financial services are:

– Surround yourself with supportive people who will champion your efforts, including senior / board-level buy-in 

– Co-create professional-looking resources by calling in favours where needed 

– Don’t only ‘sing to the choir’; seek to engage with those who don’t have DEI on their priority list, using an allies-get-allies approach 

– Use data to back up what you’re trying to achieve to earn more buy-in 

– If you’re passionate and focused, you can do both your day job and drive positive initiatives by managing your time effectively 

It is through warm, engaging, and supportive environments like this Financial Narrative breakfast that we are reminded of the value of storytelling and shared experiences. Not only did we walk alongside the panellists as they explained their empowering and, at times, challenging journeys, but the audience also found space to guide each other through struggles they may be facing in leading diversity initiatives at their respective workplaces.

A big thank you to Financial Narrative, Chantal, Deon, and Mona for taking the time to share their knowledge and opening the dialogue for these positive and important conversations to happen.