George Town, Grand Cayman (22 February 2023): Last night 100 Women in Finance (“100WF”) Global Ambassador HRH The Countess of Wessex attended the 100WF Inaugural Cayman First Impressions Dinner, as part of her visit to the Cayman Islands.
100WF GirlForce100 mentees, local female students and their role models heard from a panel of inspiring female finance professionals and met with HRH The Countess of Wessex and senior industry leaders over dinner at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.
The first of its kind for the Cayman Islands location, 100WF First Impressions Dinners are within the scope of 100WF’s Investing in the Next Generation Initiative to reach, inspire, and support pre- and early-career young women who are the finance industry’s leadership pipeline.
By providing female students with opportunities like this to engage with women in varied roles and levels of seniority in financial services, they gain invaluable insight into the different career opportunities and pathways within the industry and are encouraged to forge their own careers in finance.
To kick-off the interactive evening, a panel of female rising stars shared insights about their jobs and career paths, and students were encouraged to ask questions during the roundtable sessions that followed. The format gives mid-level female professionals increased visibility in front of their peers and senior executives, including their clients, in the finance industry, and opportunities to use their experience to ‘pay it forward’ to the next generation.
As part of her role as 100WF Global Ambassador, HRH The Countess of Wessex serves as an advocate for raising the industry’s visibility and appeal as young women consider career paths. She has participated in 100WF events around the world to help cultivate interest and engagement from the next generation of women entering the industry.
By increasing the female talent considering the finance industry, raising the visibility of women at different stages of their careers, and showcasing their experiences, 100WF is increasing the female leadership pipeline and helping to inform companies on how to retain female talent.
The 100WF Inaugural Cayman First Impressions Dinner was kindly supported by Baraud International and Travers Thorp Alberga. Learn more about 100WF and upcoming 100WF Cayman events by visiting 100women.org.
Pictured from left to right: Speaker of the House Katherine Ebanks-Wilks; Mrs. Elisabeth Roper; HRH The Countess of Wessex; Deputy Premier and Minister for Finance Chris Saunders; and Ms. Barbara Conolly.
100WF was joined by HRH The Countess of Wessex (centre) and special guests.
HRH The Countess of Wessex with 100WF staff members, including CEO Ms. Amanda Pullinger (centre), and 100WF Board Member, Ms. Christina Bodden (third from right), at the 100WF Inaugural Cayman First Impressions Dinner.
HRH The Countess of Wessex shared a few remarks at the 100WF Inaugural Cayman First Impressions Dinner in her role as 100WF Global Ambassador.
HRH The Countess of Wessex joined tables of local students and finance professionals for this one-of-a-kind dinner, pictured here with Ms. Ruthanna Young.
HRH The Countess of Wessex and 100WF Cayman member Ms. Lara Deysel in conversation with one of the 100WF GirlForce100 mentees.
About 100 Women in Finance
100 Women in Finance is a global organisation committed to gender equity in finance by promoting diversity, raising visibility, and empowering women to find their personal path to success. It connects women at every career stage, including pre-career, to a global network of people and resources. The organisation’s mission is to strengthen the global finance industry by empowering women to achieve their professional potential at each career stage. It operates under a guiding principle that it calls Vision 30/40. It is the goal for women to occupy 30% of investment team and executive leadership roles by 2040.
About 100 Women in Finance Cayman
Since 2013, 100 Women in Finance Cayman has been making connections and creating opportunities that encourage female students to look favourably at careers in the Cayman Islands financial industry and presenting greater visibility of local female role models. To support Vision 30/40, all the local chapter’s fundraising efforts go towards Investing in the Next Generation initiatives including its flagship mentoring programme in partnership with the Cayman Islands Ministry of Education, GirlForce100.