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PANEL

The Rise of Women Leaders in Financial Services

We are assembling a panel consisting of female business leaders to provide their thought-leadership on the growth of women executives in the financial services industry over the last decade and how to inspire the next generation of women to grow into the business leaders of tomorrow.

This panel will champion open and honest dialogue between panelists and everyone is free to offer their own opinions and ideas on fostering the next wave of women business leaders.

The goal of this panel is to address and answer three critical questions:
1. Is sponsorship an essential component to the advancement and retention of the next generation of women leaders in financial services?
2. Are financial institutions meeting (or exceeding) the need for formal and informal mentorship programs that help prepare the next generation of women leaders in financial services?
3. How can sponsorship and mentorship opportunities prepare women leaders for the digital future in financial services?

A professional facilitator will be guiding panelists through the various topics and will encourage active participation among all panelists. The panel will be hosted online on the Currnt platform, a global leader in start-to-end, idea-sharing engagement.

Participation is exclusive and at your convenience - simply log in once a day to answer the daily question/theme posted by the facilitator over the duration of this engagement.

This panel is expected to launch at the end of June.

peopleExpert participation

Ideal candidates for this panel include Senior VPs, Executive VPs, Managing Directors, Head and or Co-Head of Divisions of the following industries:
- Retail and commercial banks, capital markets firms
- Investment management firms
- Insurance companies
- Commercial real estate firms

Applicants
Carol Davis
Head Real Estate, Facilities, Security
Head of real estate, facilities and security for all Ocwen Financial and PHH space
Falguni Desai
Head of Digital Strategy & Transformation
As a woman who has worked in financial services for 20+ years, I have seen various sides of the sector. I have worked in financial services consulting serving large broker/dealers, worked as an M&A banker, worked in American and European entities, worked in financial services technology/market data and have worked inside bank/capital markets technology divisions. I've managed young talent directly, mentored several young women and worked in a reverse mentorship roles with many different generations of talent from Gen z, Millennial, Gen X to Boomers...and even a few from the Traditionalist generation. As someone who has seen this industry change and evolve, I think the financial services sector is at a pivotal phase where it must change how it approaches women's leadership, development and retention. New methods, new processes and new ways of thinking are necessary. We need creativity, boldness and a faster, more impactful set of ways to capture the potential of women.
Lea Sims
Assistant Vice President, USAA Labs at USAA. Leading teams to drive transformation and innovation in financial services
With nearly 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, I have experience in creating the strategy for new products and gaining buy in across a large enterprise. These efforts required sponsorship for the effort at the highest levels. However, personal sponsorship for my development has been something that I have to focus on in order to continue to thrive in the environment. I feel that there were things I could have done better and also that there are things the industry should be doing for women.
Lorraine Fox
Partner, Director, Wealth Management, Aspiriant, LLC.
I have served as both a General Partner in a venture firm and a Partner in a wealth management firm. I have experience in two areas of financial services and have observed and experienced the lack of female representation in each sector of financial services.
Lisa Milbur
CMO, BMO Wealth Management
I am an Executive in the 8th largest Financial Institution in NA. I am the Executive Sponsor of a formal program we have called BMO for Women that includes sponsorship and mentor ship for women business owners and affluent women.. I’m also on the bank wide Diversity and Inclusion steering committee of executives. I interact with third party organizations across NA focused on advancing women and the economic empowerment of women business owners. I have experience across multiple industries.
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“I like that I can do this when I have time,
and there is no set schedule.”


Eric Allen, Senior Manager, Supply Chain at EY

“I find the topics engaging and I love the
flexibility of checking in and providing insights
at my convenience.”

Kimberly Underwood, Consultant at Underwood Consulting

“Great platform, great questions and topics.
The potential to earn a little more money for
participating is nice as well.”

Oren Birks, Sr. Director of IT at PBI-Gordon

“I really enjoy being on the panels, sharing
information and reading the perspective of the
other panelists. It is quite intriguing and most
all of the panelists are quite bright.”

Patty Soltis, CX Strategist at Kinetic Edge Consultants

“Very interactive, informative and without
any inherent bias. This is as good a collaborative
platform as you can get.”

Pinaki Banerjee, Program Director at ITC InfoTech

“It is a perfect platform not just to share
but to learn and stay updated.”


Armando Leyva, HR Director at 360º HC

FAQ
  • add remove What is Currnt?
    Currnt is a “Knowledge Networking” platform where companies and professionals come to stay relevant on the latest advances in their industries in the face of the increasing pace of change. Companies sponsor panels to learn about where markets are headed or how to leverage new capabilities. Professionals join to demonstrate and develop their passions with equal caliber peers in expert-only facilitated online engagements. On Currnt, we take our passions seriously and ourselves lightly. See our Community Guidelines, to learn more of the rules of the road, here are some highlights

    • Be yourself. The authenticity of Currnt begins with the passion of people.
    • Be respectful. This applies to every person, at all times.
    • Be inclusive. Tolerate, welcome, and consider diverse people and perspectives.
    • Build empathy and understanding. Engage in debates that are in good faith.
    • Foster meaningful and genuine connections. This is what Currnt is all about.
    • Do not plagiarize or fail to cite other’s ideas.
    • Don’t game the points by trying to coordinate intentional recognition.
  • add remove How do Panels work?
    The panel is like a facilitated forum of hand selected experts on a topic sponsored by a company that wants to learn fast. Panels are organized in chapters called Themes that focus on one subtopic at a time. In some panels Themes are only 24 hours in duration, in others they are a week long, and in some they are two weeks long. When one Theme closes, a new one begins. You come in when you feel like it, but try to come in twice per Theme. You earn points from your peers and the facilitator when they react to your ideas. Likewise, others earn points when you interact on their posts. The more we discuss and debate, the better the insights, the more points earned by all.

  • add remove Why should I apply? Do I get paid?
    Professionals join Currnt because they want to remain relevant on subjects they’re passionate about and subjects that are shaping the future of their industry. They also:

    • Engage and connect with equal caliber peers in their industry
    • Learn and enhance their knowledge
    • Get recognized and rewarded for providing their inputs and thought-leadership
    • When specified above in the project description, you can earn honorarium payments and/or recognition points redeemable for cash. Learn more here.
  • add remove Are there specific times I need to participate?
    There are no set times for calls or meetings. Participation is 100% online on the Currnt platform and engagement between the all expert panelists is asynchronous in written form. Just come in twice per Theme, at your convenience.

  • add remove How do KnowledgeStreams and DesignSprints work?
    Streams are ongoing online engagements for exploration or working iteratively with a panel, and Sprints are on-demand engagement to get to actionable insights quickly. Both are facilitated and are always-on for participants to engage at-convenience. The conversations are segmented into Themes which are subtopics which are like chapters in a book. In a 4 Day Sprint, Themes are 24 hours, whereas a Theme in a Stream is every two week. Throughout the discussion, the facilitator highlights and categorizes the “key takeaways” to be voted and distilled into a summary report. It’s also common that other pieces of content (whitepapers, blogs, podcasts) are also prepared from the distilled insights.

  • add remove I’ve applied. Now what?
    Your application will be internally reviewed in the following 24-48hrs and screened for any conflict of interest, and general fit. Next your application will be shortlisted for the sponsor to accept, bookmark or reject. You will receive a notification each step of the way, but expect this may take a couple of days, or even weeks if the panel is new. Nevertheless, in addition to the notifications, you can always go back to the Apply page to view the status of your application.

  • add remove I’ve been selected. What am I expected to do when selected?
    Once you receive your Welcome Email, please RSVP by clicking the link in the notification. You can also gain access to the panel through your ‘My Currnt’ at the top of the page. Finally, once you have RSVP’d by logging into the panel, there is often a Welcome Tab where you can introduce yourself to the other panelists. If it’s a new panel, the first Theme will launch in a few days, if it’s an ongoing panel just jump right in by reacting to the question or to what the other panelists had to say.

  • add remove If I have other questions or issues, what should I do?
    Please contact support to answer any other questions or troubleshoot any issues via email or chat.

The Rise of Women Leaders in Financial Services