Thank you for participating in the recent International Women’s Day (IWD) event. It was a great memorable two hours spent with our inspiring speakers! For those who missed it, here is a recount of the event:

FWA celebrated IWD for the fourth year in a row, hosted by Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Singapore. The celebration launched FWA’s Male Champion initiative, hence the event was entitled “Make It Happen – The Role of Male Champions.” FWA’s male champions are men who understand the demands of both work and family that women face and who champion their pursuit of success on both fronts. 

The panel discussion was moderated by Meghan Connolly, Head, Personal Loans & Revolving Credit and co-chair of SCB’s Women’s Network in Singapore. The panel featured four of FWA’s 23 inaugural male champions. They are: 

- Joel Kim, Managing Director, Blackrock 
- Andrew Loh, Managing Director, Investment Banking, Barclays 
- Tolan Steele, Group Country Manager, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand; SVP, Global Clients, Visa 
- Michael Wiegand, Global Head, Retail Deposits, Standard Chartered Bank

The four panellists addressed an audience of 120 people from more than 30 financial services organisations about their stand to support and promote women. They spoke about what their companies are doing in this space and the importance of role modelling the right behaviours. They also shared their valuable insights and key tactics to encourage women to progress and be successful in managing work life balance and mastering confidence.

Michael Wiegand believes that family is a priority and said, “Be confident about what value you bring, fulfil your work obligations and don’t apologise when you have an important commitment outside the office. I respect the people who work smart and efficiently. For me, it’s not about long hours and presentism.”

Tolan Steele neatly summed up the views of the panel that “decisions are always better from a group where diversity is at play.”

Joel Kim shared about the efforts by Blackrock to improve diversity within his team. And Andrew Loh spoke about the time demands of working in investment banking and having a supportive spouse. 

All these four male champions brought the audience valuable personal experience and insights on the reality of the diversity issue, encouraging women to be confident and to showcase their talent, continue to break barriers and to engage others in the issue.

For more event photos, please see our Gallery and Facebook Page.