The launch of WMN…
By Victoria Behn, Managing Director, International Banking & Markets
My first go to to Riyadh was 20 years in the past after I launched the primary ever worldwide monetary occasion held in partnership with the Saudi Arabian Capital Markets Authority. The Riyadh of 2005 was a really completely different place to immediately and the occasion was ground-breaking in itself. However we had no feminine attendees. Through the years the variety of girls slowly elevated, after which, so did the variety of feminine audio system. At the moment after I have a look at GBM’s Saudi Arabia occasion, I’m vastly heartened by the feminine attendance and the superb younger Saudi girls who at the moment are getting into the world of finance. I like their onerous work, drive, and ambition and the braveness and willpower of those that blazed the path.
It felt proper due to this fact that we selected to launch our new girls’s mentorship community – WMN – in Saudi Arabia. The community runs alongside every of our occasions internationally and are an important platform to encourage and assist girls in finance. At every occasion we have now hosted our feminine members in relaxed and unique settings the place significant connections are made. In Riyadh we had been hosted by one in every of our Saudi members for lunch and went on an epic hike to the Fringe of the World. In Cape City, an all-female choir from the townships sang to us on a rooftop. And final month in Dubai we gathered 60 members for Excessive Tea on the Ritz with a trailblazing, inspirational speaker – Tracy Edwards.
WMN is an inclusive community – all feminine attendees to our conferences are invited no matter firm or job title. And that is the true gem – our members can nominate a junior / younger feminine to return to GBM/WMN as our private visitor. We give them entry, visibility, connections, and information. I really like that we will do that and assist new younger feminine financiers take a step on and up the ladder.
So, what’s subsequent? Our members are working with us, sharing concepts, and serving to form the way forward for the community. One factor is evident – these women are all extremely busy so what we do needs to be accessible and easy. It wants to suit into their lives and add actual worth. Whereas we’re nonetheless in planning mode I’m already excited for 2026 and past. Watch this area…
