Bloomberg’s A Fair Share hosts webinar for the Middle East’s tech leaders of tomorrow

In June, Bloomberg L.P., as part of its A Fair Share initiative, hosted a webinar in collaboration with Re:Coded for females who aspire to be the next generation of tech leaders. The webinar sought to help young women across the region broaden their understanding of the FinTech industry and make more informed career choices.

Re:Coded, a tech non-profit working to bridge the region’s digital inequality gap, welcomed close to 20 of its female fellows from four countries (Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen) to the session. The online workshop began with Edmond Christou, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Gulf Banking and Insurance Analyst, outlining the current state of play in the FinTech industry. In a conversation moderated by Benjamin Grolimund, Head of Financial Products, Middle East and Africa, Bloomberg L.P, and Chair of A Fair Share’s Advisory Board, Rola Abu Manneh, CEO, Standard Chartered UAE and Advisory Board member of A Fair Share, provided insights on how best to carve out a successful and sustainable career in the digital economy based on her own experience.
Diversity and workplace inclusion was a prevalent theme throughout the session.

Rola Abu Manneh, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank UAE, said: “Diversity and inclusion have been proven to increase the operational success and overall profitability of businesses at an institutional level. It also unlocks broader economic benefits that can be felt right across society. In parallel, we’ve also seen that enhanced female participation at the board level produces cascading benefits throughout corporate and public entities. I am proud to see that in the UAE we are making significant strides to ensure diverse forces and opinions are heard and addressed.”

In advice targeted directly at the fellows, she went on to say: “It is important for the youth of today to be resilient. It is also crucial to demonstrate confidence and self-belief. Adapting these types of growth mindsets will go a long way in ensuring a successful and meaningful career.”

The event concluded with fellows joining a breakout session where they were matched with a senior mentor from the Gulf’s financial sector and a Bloomberg engineer or Global Data expert. These sessions focused on their career objectives and the development of both soft and technical skills.

Mentors included A Fair Share advisory board members and supporters of the initiative: Rola Abu Manneh, CEO, Standard Chartered UAE; Sawsan AbdulAziz, Assistant Vice President, Investment Banking and Real Estate, SICO; Zaid Al Qaimi, CIO, Kimera; Besma Alqassar, Founder & President of the Women Mentor Forum; and Benjamin Grolimund, Head of Financial Products, Middle East and Africa, Bloomberg L.P.

A Fair Share builds on Bloomberg’s work to empower women around the world to advocate for gender equality in the financial industry, engaging with a wide variety of market participants and stakeholders, including government agencies and regulators, to help unlock a valuable pool of talent. To date, close to 100 women across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have benefited from sessions organized by the initiative.

Since July 2020, Bloomberg employees have been working closely with Re:Coded students, providing technical training and career mentorship with the ultimate goal of working towards a more inclusive global economy.

The partnership is helping to bridge the digital inequality gap through a series of engineer-led webinars focusing on subjects critical for aspiring technologists, including ideation, test driven development, and technical interviews, combined with an extensive mentoring programme. Non-engineering colleagues are supporting Re:Coded students to develop vital soft-skills through CV writing workshops, interview preparation and broader mentoring support. Over 300 young people have benefited directly from the partnership and women, typically under-represented in the technology space, make-up over half of the mentees. Philanthropy and community service are an integral part of the culture at Bloomberg. You can learn more about Philanthropy at Bloomberg here and learn how we’re supporting women globally here.