Speaking on February’s Diversity and Inclusivity Finance Forum (DIFF) podcast, Richard Goppy, director of memberships at Paradigm Mortgage Services, said there had been “significant improvements” since he last appeared on the show.
Goppy featured on the first ever DIFF podcast as a trailblazer and said in that time, people had become more open to having conversations and encouraging diversity.
He said: “What I’m seeing is more females getting jobs at senior levels, and people of colour as well.
“Other areas like LGBTQ+, that is one where we do need to assess whether there’s been further opportunities across the industry.”
On a more personal level, Dina Bhudia, managing director and CEO of P2M Asset Management, said initiatives like DIFF and the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries’ Workinginmortgages taskforce had given her the confidence to “come to the forefront” in a sector she did not always feel welcomed in.
This also made her want to speak and encourage others around her to build their confidence.
Additionally, Bhudia said conversations about under-discussed topics such as how menopause impacts women had broadened the dialogue. Goppy agreed and said it prompted him to speak to his wife about it.
Encouraging inclusion
Speaking about bringing people into the sector from under-represented groups, Bhudia asked Goppy if he felt people who made up diverse demographics tended to be more willing to offer opportunities.
Goppy said it was a mix, adding that “those are the people who want to do it, but we still need those allies to actually help you because we weren’t there in the first place on that level. So you definitely need people who believe in it as well and want to do that.
“But what you’ll find, the ones who believed in it before, when they get there, I think the majority of the time you then want to help others get there and improve.”
Within his own team, Goppy said there used to be only male employees but that had changed to a 50/50 gender split.
Now, the managers are women and two people he hired into the relationship team are people of colour.
Goppy said: “It wasn’t that I was thinking they had to be that… I was just trying to get the balance of the team right. And sometimes getting the balance of the team right, is just getting a feel for who would work really well together.”
Weaponising ‘woke’
Host Bharat Sagar asked Goppy and Bhudia if they felt the word ‘woke’ – a word used to describe people who are socially aware – had now become weaponised against people from under-represented groups.
Goppy said it had and added that the word had also been politicised.
He said: “It’s very emotive in my eyes. Sadly, it appears to be used as a put down for when talking about social justice.”
Bhudia said it was about context and while she had never been called “woke”, there was a duty for everyone to understand the past, such as how discrimination had affected certain groups of people.
She added: “You’re always going to get people who are taking it to the next level… this is the challenge we’re going to face ongoing.
“Over the years things have got better, but you can’t forget the past either.”
Listen to the podcast [29:50] hosted by Bharat Sagar, ambassador at large at AE3 Media, featuring Richard Goppy, director of memberships at Paradigm Mortgage Services and Dina Bhudia, managing director and CEO of P2M Asset Management.
