George Town, Grand Cayman (13 February 2023): 100 Women in Finance (“100WF”) will host HRH The Countess of Wessex for a series of 100WF and GirlForce100 events as part of the upcoming Royal Visit to the Cayman Islands.
HRH The Countess of Wessex will attend an education event for 100WF Cayman members and special guests, meet local 100WF Angel members at a luncheon and participate in the 100WF Inaugural Cayman First Impressions Dinner.
HRH The Countess of Wessex is a long-time champion of gender balance and diversity in the workplace and has served as Global Ambassador of 100WF’s Investing in the Next Generation Initiatives since 2015. In this role, HRH The Countess of Wessex travelled to several of 100WF’s locations around the world.
The Inaugural Cayman First Impressions Dinner is the first of its kind for the Cayman Islands location. The evening is designed to provide both GirlForce100 mentees and other female high school students with an opportunity to interact with 100WF members in different roles and at different career stages. The hope is to inspire these young women to pursue pathways in the industry through positive role models and transparent access points.
GirlForce100 mentees will also join HRH The Countess of Wessex at the Governor’s Residence for an intimate meeting, with the opportunity for each mentee to ask HRH The Countess of Wessex a career-related question of their choice.
“As Global Ambassador, HRH The Countess of Wessex has been an excellent advocate for increased diversity in the financial services industry, and for raising the industry’s visibility and appeal as young women consider career paths,” explains 100WF CEO, Amanda Pullinger. “Her work has helped to cultivate interest and engagement both from the next generation of women entering the industry and women at each career stage in the industry and has been invaluable to our organisation and its mission.”
This is the second time HRH The Countess of Wessex is joining the 100WF Cayman Islands location in her role as Global Ambassador. “The Royal Visit is another poignant moment for 100WF Cayman, and the organisation globally,” says 100WF Board Member, Christina Bodden. “When HRH The Countess of Wessex visited the Cayman Islands in 2016, our 100WF pre-career initiatives had just launched and, since then, her continued service has provided vital publicity for the important work we do around the world. In particular, her visit will shine a light on GirlForce100 and the important impact the programme is having on the next generation of Caymanian leaders.”
100WF is grateful to the Maples Group, Travers Thorp Alberga and Baraud International for their support of the upcoming events. 100WF is seeking additional supporters of the 100WF Inaugural Cayman First Impressions Dinner, taking place on Tuesday, 21 February. Senior industry professionals working within the financial sector are encouraged to bring the young women in their lives (daughters, nieces, mentees, and others) to the dinner to learn more about a career in the industry. Those interested in purchasing a pair of tickets should visit bit.ly/FirstImpressionsCayman.
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.
About GirlForce 100
GirlForce100 is a strategic community partnership between 100WF and the Cayman Islands Ministry of Education, and provides support, educational guidance and opportunity to young women aged 13-25 years old, attending local educational institutions in the Cayman Islands.
GirlForce 100 pairs local 100WF members with young women who have indicated an interest in any career in the finance industry and have demonstrated notable potential meriting their placement. Through mentorship, the programme supports mentees in the development and progression of their career paths leading them to success.
Now in its eighth year, a previous impact study on the programme found that throughout the programme, mentees experienced increased confidence levels, better school attendance and had more understanding of future career opportunities.
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