American Banker reported on the mixed results of a SourceMedia survey of individuals in the banking, payments and mortgage sectors about the MeToo movement; most respondents said it would impact their industry in some capacity, though they were split on whether the impact would be positive or negative; there was a clear divide on gender lines as most women thought changes would be positive, men respondents mentioned false accusations and some brushed it off as not a big issue; there is some concern that this could force men to hire less women and not mentor women in the workplace for fear of being accused; clear workplace guidelines and a more diverse executive team could bring about real positive change; the MeToo movement is clearly forcing a lot of industries to rethink how they structure their workplace for all employees. Source.
While trying to raise money for their robotics and AI startup Trevor McFredries found an issue that he wanted to change, all investors were white men; he, along with his colleague Sara DeCou, stated they would not accept money unless the investors had a woman or a person of color in a senior position; 400 tech entrepreneurs have banded together to form a coalition called Founders of Change to make real progress on diversity; the group is inspired by the broader movement to make businesses more diverse and include more voices as the old ways of investing need to change. Source.
According to new research by the global headhunting firm DHR International, fintech companies have only 8% women directors as compared to the top 30 banks in the world who collectively have 22% women directors; while many fintech companies see their culture as more inclusive and diverse, the data shows the opposite; formerly of JPMorgan Chase and now CEO at Digital Asset Holdings, Blythe Masters understands the importance of workplace diversity, "I know what our company would look like if we weren't consciously thinking about this issue — we would only have one female director." Source
The Venture Capital industry has seen some early signs of positive change when it comes to gender discrimination and diversity; though some still believe there is no issue and that they cannot do anything to effect change; brave women like Ellen Pao and Susan Fowler have helped others to share their stories and men in power have been forced to leave and policies at firms have changed; you are starting to see VC’s hire more women and require companies they fund to show diversity among their executive ranks; there is still a ways to go for VC’s and Silicon Valley overall, though change is happening. Source.
Innovate Finance published their annual list of women in fintech and while progress has been made, more work is needed; Innovate Finance CEO Charlotte Crosswell said "We’ve still got work to be done. When you look at statistics of women in fintech — it’s not there yet.”; other leaders like Anne Boden of Starling Bank said we all need to try harder; studies also show that the more diverse a team the better they perform. Source.