Welcome to the new Leasing Foundation — Diversity and Inclusion Initiative blog!
The Foundation
The Leasing Foundation, founded in 2012, is a not-for-profit organisation that has three key focus areas — innovation, young people, and diversity and inclusion — which are crucial for driving growth across the industry. From its inception, the Leasing Foundation has sought to demonstrate that there are many ways to support the development of the industry with a focus on getting the job done rather than creating structures and titles. It has been a platform from which projects and initiatives are launched and it has partnered with the FLA and the AF-PA Trust amongst others to ensure that the industry has a flow of initiatives that promote innovation and research. This will ensure the business finance sector is as successful as possible and that it continues to play a vital role in helping organisations in the UK access the finance they need.
The Initiative
The Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, encompassing sexual orientation, gender, race and ethnicity, mental health, disability and age, helps companies in the finance industry to understand the business benefits of building inclusive leadership, management, organisations and teams. This will help them embed inclusion and diversity into hiring, performance management, succession management, leadership development and learning.
Each year, the group aims to host a number of events for those working in the finance industry. Previous events have focused on topics such as unconscious bias and mental health.
For more information, please visit our LinkedIn group.
The Blog
With this blog, the Diversity and Inclusion Initiative will share details of the work being done within the initiative and within our respective companies.
If you would like to contribute to the blog, please get in touch here.
The Team
The initiative is managed by a steering group led by:
- Carol Roberts — Head of Asset, 1PM Plc
- Jo Davis — Head of Asset & Consumer Finance (UK Division), Locke Lord
With assistance from:
- Melanie Chell — Head of Asset Finance, Shoosmiths
- Patrick Jelly — Commercial Director, Aldermore Asset Finance
- Helen Lumb — Chief Financial Officer, Shire Leasing Plc
- Brian P Murphy — Sales Manager, Alfa
- Catriona Powell — Strategic Change Manager, Hitachi Capital Business Finance UK
- Laura Roberts — Legal Director, Liberty Leasing Plc
- Helena Thernstrom — Head of Legal, Asset & Invoice Finance at RBS
- Emma Thomas — UK Country Proximity Manager, Siemens Financial Services
