Anguilla, March 15, 2016 – As the world marked International Women’s Day last week, a top global female executive has suggested that gender equality in the workplace starts by creating an inclusive environment.
“We want to create an environment where everyone can be their authentic self at work because it’s only then that someone will speak up, that they will participate, that they will be fully engaged and bring the highest value into the workplace,” stated Maria Theofilaktidis, Scotiabank’s Executive Vice President for Retail Distribution, Canadian Banking in a profile in Canadian magazine Women of Influence.
Her comments came as women across the bank’s Caribbean East district held over a dozen events and activities this week to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.
The company’s Advancement of Women (AoW) groups hosted mentorship sessions, panel discussions and cocktail receptions focused on uplifting and empowering women with the company and the wider community.
In Anguilla, Scotiabank Country Manager Pamela Herbert-Daniel led a panel discussion on ‘Navigating Your Career’ and the bank marked the day with a prominently placed billboard outside of its branch.
Scotiabank’s AoW is a movement to create an inclusive and supportive company culture through initiatives such as mentoring programs, building strong networks and making career advancement processes clearer and fairer.
The Bank has won international recognition for its AoW efforts which are increasingly reflected in the proportion of women leading or part of its executive teams. Within the bank’s English Caribbean Region two of the four managing directors are women – Jacqueline Sharp of Caribbean North and Anya Schnoor of Caribbean South. In Caribbean East half of the district’s executive management team are women.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
