International Women’s Day is about equal opportunities and equal treatment for people of all genders. At Projective Group, that is one of the main focal points of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Team. In four of our offices in UK, Belgium, The Netherlands and France, efforts were made to celebrate the 8th of March in honour of all women who continue to fight for equality.
Belgium: Fin and Tonic with leading ladies in finance
Rea Bakiasi, DEI Country Lead Belgium: “One of our DEI’s main objectives is gender diversity. We believe that there cannot be a healthy working environment unless all employees are treated equally. All the initiatives we are taking in relation to gender equity show how much we care about our people and how much we stand behind the values of being a people focussed company.”
We believe that there cannot be a healthy working environment unless all employees are treated equally.
“To celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re organising a Fin and Tonic on 28 March. The theme will be Beyond boundaries, shaping the narrative for women in finance. I’m very excited about our panel. Our key panel speaker is Conny Vandendriessche. She has written a book on female leadership – literally – and is one of the most powerful women in Belgium. We also have Ludivine Pilate (CEO of Puilaetco), Beatrice de Mahieu (CEO of BeCode), and Claire Godding (Co-chair of Women in Finance). The aim of the event is that we’re going to be surrounded by successful, powerful women who made it to the top and share tips and experiences. What are the real challenges? And how can we as a company help women to excel and live up to their potential?”
“Of course, as the DEI team, we have a high regard for diversity. That’s why I wanted to have a diverse panel as well. I fought hard to include a man in our panel, Vincent Van Bueren, who is head of ESG at GIMV. I believe that we cannot make change without including men in anything we want to do on gender. By increasing awareness on the topic, I’ve noticed that men are more open to really listening to the challenges women face. In fact, special thanks goes out to our leadership for all their support. Stefan, Mike – we couldn’t do these events without their networks.”
France: exchanging experiences over dinner
Nouria Badarou, DEI Global Lead: “In a perfect world, we would have equality and equity. But that’s not always the case in reality, to be frank. I think it’s important to always celebrate women, across the world, and International Women’s Day is a nice occasion to do something special. The fact that Projective Group is willing to allocate budget on International Women’s Day for the sake of people feeling appreciated, is something that tells me that the company really cares.”
I think it’s important to always celebrate women, across the world, and International Women’s Day is a nice occasion to do something special.
“In France, Projective Group is still a small entity. We are a smaller entity with around 10 people. France is the only Projective Group country that has more women than men. It’s a milestone. On 8 March, we’re going out to dinner as a group. It will be an opportunity to exchange experiences and share tips with other women and bring more awareness to the men. Talk openly about our differences and how we experience things differently. I’m looking forward to a nice and illuminating evening.”
The Netherlands: get everyone inspired with a Diversity Awareness Challenge
Muhtashim Ashraf, DEI Country Lead NL: “The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is “inspire inclusion”. We believe that inclusion and diversity are intertwined concepts that cannot be viewed separate from each other. That’s why we decided to launch a Diversity Awareness Challenge. We hope this inspires an inclusive workplace in the Netherlands, especially for our female colleagues. By that, we don’t mean: we want to have female colleagues. We mean: we want them to be able to participate fully in every aspect of the business.”
“We notice young people place more and more value on DEI. Whereas before, money may have been a more defining factor, younger generations find it more important to have a healthy and safe work environment in which everyone’s respected. That’s not just the responsibility of the DEI team, but of all pillars. These are things that foster a good corporate culture, and a good culture is what sets a company apart.”
Younger generations find it more important to have a healthy and safe work environment in which everyone’s respected.
“For me personally, being from Pakistani background myself, diversity and inclusion is obviously important. When I heard about the DEI Pillar, I knew I wanted to have a voice in this initiative. Our goal is to raise awareness without pointing fingers or lecturing people. Things like the unconscious bias training we’re organising, helps to make people aware of their biases without saying they’re doing things wrong.”
“A few months ago, we launched a Diversity Awareness Challenge. We gave our colleagues the space to think about what diversity means to them and to find some way to represent this thought. It can be a photo, a poem, anything. Our goal is to make people discover what diversity means to them, instead of just telling them what it means to us. On 8 March, we will conclude our challenge with an award ceremony. We’ll also take this opportunity to have a discussion about the topic ‘inspire inclusion’ and about diversity. The ultimate goal of all our efforts is to facilitate the conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion.”
The United Kingdom: an intimate and uncomfortable discussion to inspire change and celebrate wins
Agnieszka Tkacz DEI Country Lead UK : “I’ve always been extremely passionate about challenging gender stereotypes and supporting and empowering women in the workforce. We embarked on a very exciting time in history where the world now “expects” diversity, equity and inclusion and I am very grateful that at Projective Group we truly advocate its presence.
Since joining the company last year, I helped to bring forth our partnership with Fast Forward Group. The Fast Forward Programme is an important stepping stone in our journey to support the careers and aspirations of women in Projective Group. Its aim was to build foundations for women’s professional and personal journeys and give them the forum and momentum to speak out. But the work does not stop there, and this year during our International Women’s Day in UK, we want to provide an open space for insightful and uncomfortable discussions that tackle gender stereotypes, bias and path to greater equity in our company.
We’d like to identify the key struggles for women, things we’d like to change, and having this intimate setting is going to enable us to do just that.
Last year we had a very successful event for International Women’s Day in the UK, where we invited clients and had a lot of great discussions. This year, we want to keep it more intimate, just our UK office, so we can really delve into a more controversial topics that you wouldn’t immediately discuss with the clients . We want to celebrate the success stories we accomplished at Projective Group in the last year, but also address challenges acknowledging the importance of working towards overcoming gender disparities and fostering a sense of responsibility. Some of the discussions will focus on gender pay gap, maternity leave and leadership roles… we want to create a forum to celebrate wins and discuss paths to overcome challenges.”
Emma Austin, DEI UK: “Since joining Projective Group, one of my favourite things has been working with everyone. People who have different thoughts and experiences has led to many interesting and thought provoking conversations. It also fosters an environment where people challenge perspectives, which can directly lead to better solutions for our clients, regardless of the problem we are solving. This year’s theme for IWD is #InspireInclusion and we want to focus on the word inspire.We will invite panellists all the way from early grads to experienced hires, and see how their perspectives differ. Ask young women about the struggles they see, and compare that to those of women with years of experience. We’d like to identify the key struggles for women, things we’d like to change, and having this intimate setting is going to enable us to do just that.”
Conclusion
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are very important topics in all Projective Group offices. International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to solidify our commitment to promoting equal opportunities for everyone in our company. We’re very proud of the efforts our DEI team have put into these Women’s Day celebrations, and we applaud everyone who makes an effort in their personal lives to be aware of social imbalances and try to correct them wherever they can.
About Projective Group
Established in 2006, Projective Group is a leading Financial Services change specialist.
We are recognised within the industry as a complete solutions provider, partnering with clients in Financial Services to provide resolutions that are both holistic and pragmatic. We have evolved to become a trusted partner for companies that want to thrive and prosper in an ever-changing Financial Services landscape.
