Tracie Burton, senior corporate account manager at HSBC, said the firm joined the bursary scheme last year as it felt that as a lender, it had a “great platform” to support the overall initiative.
The bursary gives recipients full executive membership to the DIFF events, including quarterly conferences covering topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I).
Burton said offering the bursary was also “the right thing to do” because “the world’s changing and so are the customers; an inclusive and diverse team is an essential component to drive innovation and growth forward”.
She said a diverse workforce led to “thoughtful decision-making”, enhanced employee engagement and retention, expanded market research, reduced bias and promoted fairness, as well as giving everyone a voice.
Burton said on a personal level, being involved with the DIFF was “greatly rewarding” as it was a good source of guidance and information.
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HSBC bursary recipient Lucy Edes, compliance officer and Women in New Leaf ambassador, said she had not heard of the DIFF until HSBC offered her a bursary, but she “jumped at it with both hands”, as it got her “really excited” and would introduce her to like-minded people.
“The ideas that have been shared from DIFF have been absolutely incredible,” she added.
Fellow HSBC bursary recipient Rachel Eason-Whale, head of impact and inclusion at L&C Mortgages, said being a part of the DIFF had been “really transformational”, both personally and professionally.
“On a personal level, it gave me the confidence to step into conversations I might have previously avoided,” she noted.
She also said the encouragement to network and get involved at the DIFF events made it easier to make connections.
Eason-Whale went on to hold a table discussion at a DIFF event, which she described as a “turning point” because it helped her practice her dialogue, think about thoughtful questions, and use her own experiences to open up and have difficult conversations.
This also enabled her to host an external panel later on the topic of navigating diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the Trump era.
“DIFF has really built my confidence – it’s widened my network,” Eason-Whale added.
Bringing DIFF to work
Since being involved with the DIFF, a women’s network has been set up at New Leaf with Edes as ambassador, and the idea to create this was partially because of her attendance at the programme.
Edes said this had taken off and she was due to run her second event soon, focusing on women’s health.
“I’m very happy to say they pretty much have all the spaces reserved in about 24 hours. That’s how popular this is with the women in our network,” she added.
Eason-Whale said it connected her with people and ideas, such as the concept of event champions, who are people that talk to others at events to make them feel less lonely. The DIFF also prompted L&C Mortgages to introduce wellbeing passports so colleagues could be more open about their mental health and challenge its recruitment process.
The company is now working on developing an initiative for caregivers, as many of its employees are in this position.
Burton said the DIFF allowed HSBC to connect with talented people who brought a fresh perspective and reinforced its commitment to D&I, which she hoped enhanced the company’s reputation.
HSBC will continue its DIFF bursary scheme and widen it to support change in the sector, Burton added.
She encouraged more lenders to get involved with the bursary scheme, saying it was an “opportunity to lead by example” and demonstrate commitment to building a more diverse industry and supporting diverse talent.
