To celebrate ten years of Gender Networks, founder Vanessa Vallely, OBE was joined by over 100 guests to open the markets at the London Stock Exchange.
Speakers included, Diane Cote, Chief Risk Officer at the LSE, who hosted the celebrations and spoke of her support for Gender Networks.
Baroness Goudie, Member of the British House of Lords who shared her views about how far women have come in the past 30 years, whilst noting just how far we still have to go to achieve gender Parity.
Birgit Neu, Global Head of D&I, HSBC closed the event, sharing her reflections on the achievements of Gender Networks as a former co-chair and advisory board member. The celebration culminated in a group picture of all of guests celebrating alongside State Street’s Fearless girl statue, which now stands proudly in Paternoster Square.
Watch Gender Networks opening the London Stock Exchange below:
Gender Networks (10th Birthday Celebration) from WeAreTheCity on Vimeo.
Vanessa Vallely, OBE, founder of Gender Networks, said, “Gender Networks has always been an amazing platform for network leaders to share best practice, learn about wider gender initiatives and make connections.”
“We have seen so many successes over the years, such as joint member events, cost savings for our member’s networks, successful sharing of best practice as well as the opportunity to focus on topical issues such as women on boards, Pay Gap and how our networks support the female pipeline.”
“I am delighted to be celebrating our 10th Birthday in such an iconic setting.”
“My sincere thanks to the LSE for their support and for providing this opportunity to celebrate our 10th birthday alongside all of our members and special guests.”
The celebration was also attended by the women’s network leads and guests from the Government Equalities Office, Norton Rose, Bloomberg, PwC, Schroders, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered, BlackRock, Barclays, Marsh, Worldpay, Mastercard, Visa, PwC, EY, Sky, Lloyds Bank, 02, FCA, JP Morgan, Atos, RBC, MUFG, Uber, Macquarie, Commerzbank, Ipsos, GLA, Channel 4, Chubb, BAE Systems, Mazars, RBS, Verizon, DLA Piper, Nomura, Nataxis, Protiviti, AIG, Invesco, Credit Agricole, Janus Henderson, Mizuho, LinkedIN, Great Ormond Street and Bank of America.
Gender Networks (formerly the Network of Networks) was founded in 2009 by Vanessa Vallely OBE, Managing Director of WeAreTheCity. The purpose of Gender Networks was to create a forum for corporate women’s networks, chairs and co-chairs to share network best practice, seek opportunities to leverage ideas and share challenges. In 2017, Gender Networks became a membership organisation and introduced an online resource portal for its members. The Gender Networks group now includes representation from 330 members from over 85 cross sector organisations in the UK. Gender Networks members meet quarterly throughout the year and are hosted by different member companies.
Gender Networks also provides free consultancy and guidance to charities and not for profits who are looking to set up D&I/Gender related networks/employee resource groups within their organisations.
Over the past few years, Gender Networks has engaged speakers and supported campaigns such as the London Mayor’s, Behind Every Great City campaign and Dr Helen Pankhurst’s centenary activities, celebrating 100 years since some women were able to vote. They have welcomed speakers such as Brenda Trenowden CBE, Chair of 30% club, Denise White, Chair of the Hampton Alexander Report and Jude Kelly CBE, curator of the Southbank’s, Women of the World festival. Through Gender Networks meetings, they also provide the opportunity for charities to share their work with our network members. To date they have provided a platform for over 20 charities, most of which have benefitted from connections and support for their various fund raising initiatives.
Each year, Gender Networks members also contribute to a company-wide survey which details their strategic objections, how they are engaging men and the governance of their networks. This year, WeAreTheCity partnered with EY’s Women’s Network and Women. Fast Forward to conduct our survey and to produce their 2018/19 results. The launch event was opened by the Rt Hon Nicky Morgan who also spoke about her support for the work of Gender Networks alongside her views on the world of work for women.Gender Networks opening the London Stock Exchange
If you have a corporate women’s network within your organisation and want to find out more about joining Gender networks please visit http://gendernetworks.com or email [email protected]
