Redefining Leadership in a Brave New World’, new date, 23 October 2020, 1- 3pm GMT
Together we are facing uncertain times. COVID-19, a deep economic recession and widening equalities gap are affecting all aspects of our lives. With the incredible speed at which circumstances are evolving around us, now is the time to re-imagine what sort of leaders we want driving public policy and finance in this Brave New World so that we can continue to adapt and innovate. Participants came together to discuss leadership qualities and the diversity of leadership styles. A lively debate ensued with strong support for leaders who value cognitive diversity and create positive environments that place a strong emphasis on the quality of an individual’s thinking. See the agenda and presentation by Sumita Shah, PFM consultant Redefining Leadership for a Brave New World PFW Redefining Leadership revised final
PFW is delighted to be invited to a BDO consulting event: Women Working in Development on 2 July. The event will focus on 'Diversity in development: Are we doing enough? The event will explore the extent to which the sector encourages diversity and attracts talent, as well as considering how diversity can impact on programme delivery. There are a range of speakers (see invitation) that will explore these issues from the consultancy world together with speakers from BAME practitioners in International Development. Watch out for further updates.
Gillian Fawcett alongside Maja Bosnic, Director of Business Development, Niras Consulting, was delighted to present on gender responsive budgeting as part of an AICPA/CIMA webcast (4 June, 5pm, BST). This is a topical and developing area of public financial management offering an approach to budgeting that uses fiscal policy and administration to advance gender equality and the development of women. It is gaining popularity among governments around the world and offers a unique approach to formulating a budget in a gender responsive way.
406 participants joined the webinar and raised a number of challenging questions.
We covered gender responsive budgeting using fiscal policy and administration to advance gender equality, the wider policy context surrounding the introduction of gender responsive budgeting and lessons learned and good practice from international jurisdiction case studies. Maja specifically focused on the Ukraine and Philippines.
On 22 April 2020, PFW was delighted to join a group of connecting scholars and practitioners in the field public service accounting and accountability to discuss different angles of 'Accounting and Accountability for the Digital Transformation of Public Services'. While distance teaching and virtual meetings have sparked a very personal digital transformation in many of us, the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) could not have hoped for a better experience during the Digital Panel and Informal Meet-Up.
The Panel (consisting of short paper presentations and discussions over two sessions) and the Informal Meet-Up (an open space to talk about puzzling questions of accounting and accountability in or throughout the digital transformation of public services - but even more so, to talk about how to survive and thrive through the digital revolution of our core activities) have served as a sounding board for colleagues from three continents. Up to 74 participants to the paper presentations and participated in exchanging views on current and the future research in the field of public service accounting and accountability.
In late March, we were invited by Grant Thornton Public Services London team to join a virtual celebration session for Women’s History Month. Mitzi Wyman, Board Member and Gillian Fawcett (Founder) were guest speakers and were joined by other female leaders to share their unique perspectives. GT advisory Partner Will McWilliams also addressed the discussion as the GT Public Service Diversity and Inclusion group lead. The event was well received by the audience and drew a lot of interests in PFW. The policy paper ‘levelling the playing field for women accessing senior posts in public finance’ was later shared with the attendees along with a further introduction of PFW, which was presented to OECD in early March.
PFW was delighted to be asked to present at the 20th Annual OECD Senior Financial Management and Reporting Officials Symposium in Paris to talk about how important diversity and inclusion is for government finance functions. The event is normally attended by representatives from ministries of finance in OECD countries. Gillian Fawcett contributed to a session devoted to discussing the effectiveness of government finance functions, skills development and people. The session also considered the changing role of finance professionals because of reporting and technological advances. Other speakers were from the World Bank, Swedish and UK Governments.
To find out about what was covered by PFW see the attached slides which highlight some key areas including: a finance function’s performance can be improved by having a diversity strategy; diversity and inclusion should be an important part of good governance; and CFO’s will need to adjust their leadership styles to become more in tune with diversity, experiences and challenges. PFWOECD2020a
Public Finance by Women (PFW) supported by Grant Thornton UK LLP was delighted to host a roundtable on 5 December 2019, to discuss whether there is a fair playing field for women seeking leadership positions in public finance. The debate was lively and covered a lot of ground. Redefining the role of leader, culture and behavioural change, as well as addressing unconscious bias were discussed at length as a means to addressing gender inequality. Mentoring featured highly as a support tool helping women throughout their careers.
The event was be chaired by Gillian Fawcett, Co - Founder, PFW and included Paul Dossett from Grant Thornton and Lucinda Longmore, Project Lead from the Hampton-Alexander Review. She shared insights on how gender equality is being advanced in FTSE 350 boards https://ftsewomenleaders.com/about-us/ . In relation to getting women into Director of Finance Positions the statistic was poor - only 15% of DoF positions are held by women. Clearly there is much more progress to make if FTSE companies are to achieve gender equality in one of the key functional roles. Across London Boroughs and NHS Trusts in London the statistic was slightly better over 30%, but further progress still needs to be made.
A short policy paper covering the discussion will be available early in the New Year - so watch this space!
Catch up on the latest news about 'Breaking Barriers for Women Leaders in Public Finance'. On 18 July 2019 PFW outlined the case for change and the barriers that confront females as they strive to succeed in their careers. Chaired by Sumita Shah from ICAEW, she asked some searching questions about how we overcome the barriers and issues, such as unconscious bias and the organisational DNA, as well as setting out some of the enablers.
Listen: https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/2042900/42F69118E1BF919F5ABC664632DCD318
Once you have listened to the webinar we would be pleased to have your feedback so do contact us using the e-mail address on the website. We look forward to hearing from you.