Financi’Elles
The network federation promoting gender diversity in the
banking, financial, and insurance sectors
The network federation promoting gender diversity in the
banking, financial, and insurance sectors
This alliance of 13 networks relies on:
Financi’Elles offers a simple and pragmatic approach, that suits the needs and particularities of each of its partners:
For networks : mutall support and enrichment through the pooling of actions benefiting their members and the sharing of best practices to accelerate change within their companies.
For female executives : offer a space for discussion, personal enrichment, and open cross-networking, highlight women’s achievements and concrete actions by companies, and actively contribute to making the sector more attractive to women.
For companies – HR departments : share a common repository for tracking progress in gender diversity. Make tools available that are supported and recognised by industry experts.
For companies – General Management and Communications Department : encourage commitments to promoting gender diversity in partner companies for the benefit of the sector as a whole.
Despite being very well-represented in the financial sector (accounting for over 50% of the total workforce),women frequently face a common issue. That is, although many women – perhaps even more than men – are beginning professional careers and reaching the lower levels of the ladder, they are struggling to reach the highest corporate levels, accounting for only 16% of Executive Committee members today.
In June 2010, further to the initiative of executive women’s networks at BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, women in the banking, finance, and insurance sector decided to create Financi’Elles, a sector-based federation of internal networks promoting gender diversity. France’s finance, banking, and insurance sector currently has nearly 120,000 female executives. In recent years, networks have blossomed within the sector, boosting awareness of the specific problem women face in their professional careers and helping to strengthen gender diversity at all levels of companies.
Development has been very quick since 2015, with already more than 10,000 women organised in networks, from an initial count of just 1,500 women. To support these internal dynamics and their common aim, these networks decided to join together within a sector-based alliance. Financi’Elles represents an alliance of formal and informal networks from 112 sector companies.
Financi’Elles is now the leading alliance of networks promoting gender diversity within the sector.