Give To Gain emphasises the power of reciprocity and support. When people, organisations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase. Giving is not a subtraction, it’s intentional multiplication. When women thrive, we all rise.
The business case for women’s leadership is one of the easier to make and ought by now to be understood by even the most misogynist of banking sector leaders. Gender diverse leaderships means lower operating costs, greater returns on equity and lower risk taking. However, women still remain underrepresented in the upper management of companies. This is especially the case in private equity and the venture capital sector.

As recently as the early 1990s, less than 10% of all US banks had more than one woman on the board. Today, over one-half of US banks have three or more women on the board.

In the UK, if the chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves is to be believed, the UK leads the world in drive to increase the number of women on boards and in leadership at the top of firms. 

More than 60% of FTSE350 companies are within striking distance of the 40% target for women’s representation in boardrooms.

The FTSE Women Leaders Review report for 2025, backed by the government and sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group and KPMG, shows that women now occupy 1,275 or 43% of roles on company boards and 6,743 (35%) of leadership roles at the 350 FTSE companies.

There remains an ongoing debate about the use of quotas.

France is one notable country to employ the use of quotas while progress in the UK has been voluntary. Supporters of this approach argue that it demonstrates the ability of the private sector to lead the way, alongside government support, but without overburdening regulation.

As this cross-section of comments from leaders in the financial sector demonstrates, there is more to gender equality than just boardroom representation.

Tracy Cray, Managing Director, UK and Europe Operations, Chargebacks911 and Fi911

I started my career with no safety net, and that experience shaped how I lead today. What carried me forward was discipline, consistency and a willingness to learn every part of the process from the ground up. After three decades across issuer, acquiring and merchant environments, I have seen how easily the chargeback system can fall out of balance when speed overrides scrutiny. My focus is on restoring fairness through clearer communication, stronger evidence standards and better collaboration across the ecosystem.

What International Women’s Day means today

For me, International Women’s Day is a moment to ask whether the day-to-day experience for women in the workplace is genuinely improving. Recognition is positive, but it needs to be matched with practical change in hiring, progression and support. IWD should prompt honest conversations about what is working and what still needs attention, because progress only sticks when organisations look closely at themselves.

Progress vs reality

We have moved forward in visibility and awareness, but the reality on the ground is still uneven. Many women are progressing, yet barriers remain around senior leadership access, pay consistency and long-term career confidence. What gives me optimism is that these conversations are now happening more openly. The next step is sustained follow-through. Real equality comes from consistent action over time.

Women in leadership

Women bring valuable perspective into leadership, particularly in areas that require balanced judgement and strong people awareness. In payments and financial services, those qualities matter every day. The focus now should be on ensuring women are not only present in leadership pipelines but supported into roles where they can make meaningful decisions. Confidence grows when capability is recognised early and developed properly, so organisations need to be intentional about backing talent.

Gender pay gap

Closing the gender pay gap requires steady, practical work – organisations need clear salary frameworks, transparent progression criteria and regular reviews that identify where differences are emerging. In my experience, consistency is key. When expectations and reward structures are clearly defined, disparities become easier to spot and correct. Economic equality improves when businesses treat pay equity as an ongoing discipline.

Grassroots impact

Grassroots networks often provide the confidence and practical guidance that formal structures miss. Early in a career, having someone explain how the workplace really operates can make a significant difference. Community-led mentoring, peer support and informal knowledge sharing all help women navigate challenges that are not always written into policy documents. Organisations should recognise the value of these networks because they frequently develop future leaders from the ground up.

Year-round support

Year-round support comes down to consistency and visibility. Organisations should provide clear development pathways, fair access to stretch opportunities and managers who actively sponsor emerging talent. It also helps to track outcomes over time, not just attendance at programmes. When women can see genuine progression taking place within a business, confidence builds naturally. International Women’s Day is a useful milestone, but sustained everyday actions create lasting change.

Monica Eaton, Founder and CEO, Chargebacks911 and Fi911

I built Chargebacks911 because I refused to accept that disputes were just a cost of doing business. When my own ecommerce company was hit with rising chargebacks, I went looking for answers and found very few practical solutions for merchants. So, I built one. The biggest lesson from that journey is this: real progress starts when someone is willing to question what everyone else accepts. Payments still needs more leaders, especially women, who are prepared to challenge outdated assumptions and rebuild broken processes.

What International Women’s Day means today

International Women’s Day should be less about applause and more about accountability. Celebration is welcome, but progress only happens when organisations examine who holds real decision-making power and who does not. For me, IWD is a checkpoint. Are we funding female founders? Are we promoting women into operational leadership roles? Recognition matters, but measurable change matters more. The work is not finished, and we should be honest about that.

Progress vs reality 

We have made visible progress, but the lived reality for many women still falls short of the headlines. Representation has improved in some sectors, yet access to capital, senior roles and technical pathways remains uneven. What encourages me is the growing willingness to question those gaps openly. The next phase is about precision – we need clearer pathways into leadership and stronger accountability so progress becomes consistent rather than concentrated.

Women in leadership

Women belong in the rooms where financial and technical decisions are made, not just in supporting roles around them. Diverse leadership teams ask better questions and tend to spot risk earlier, which matters enormously in payments. The priority now is not simply inviting women into leadership pipelines but making sure those pipelines lead to real authority. Visibility helps, but influence is what ultimately changes outcomes for businesses and customers.

Gender pay gap 

The gender pay gap is ultimately a visibility and accountability issue. Most organisations already have enough data to understand where disparities exist. The real question is whether they are prepared to act on it consistently. Economic equality improves when compensation structures are transparent, promotion criteria are clear and performance is measured fairly. Progress will come from sustained attention to these fundamentals.

Grassroots impact

Some of the most meaningful progress for women starts at the grassroots level, where mentorship and sponsorship actually take shape. Large policy shifts matter, but early-career confidence often grows through smaller networks that provide practical guidance and honest feedback. I have seen how targeted mentoring can change someone’s trajectory. Organisations should pay closer attention to these community-driven efforts because they often surface future leaders early.

Year-round support 

Supporting women year-round requires structure. Organisations should focus on transparent promotion paths, equitable access to high-visibility projects and mentorship that connects emerging talent with decision-makers. It also means tracking outcomes – if development programmes are working, you should see movement into leadership roles over time. International Women’s Day is a useful reminder, but consistent follow-through is what actually moves the needle.

Sarah Barslund Lauridsen, Chief Product Officer, Nexi Group

International Women’s Day is an important moment to stop and reflect on progress, not just intentions. Over the course of my career, the most meaningful shift I’ve seen is moving away from trying to ‘fix’ women and toward addressing systemic barriers that limit who gets seen, trusted and promoted.

Gender balance remains a glaring issue; women represent half the population but not half of leadership. That said, diversity must go beyond gender alone. Organisations perform better when they bring multiple voices, backgrounds and ways of thinking into the room, and leadership teams should be built with that in mind.

Real change happens fastest when it starts at the top. Measures such as leadership accountability and board-level representation aren’t about giving women an unfair advantage; they help counterbalance unconscious bias that has existed for decades. When diversity is embedded into culture, targets and ways of working, it doesn’t disappear with shifting political or economic narratives, it becomes an extricable part of how an organisation succeeds.

Ana Luisa Monteiro, CFO and Partner, Cumbuca, and former leader at XP Inc

Career progression and risk-taking

Throughout my career, I’ve mentored women at the beginning of their professional journeys, especially in high-performance environments like finance and tech. Much of the work isn’t technical – it’s about positioning, visibility, negotiation and risk-taking. I consistently see highly qualified women self-select out of opportunities because they feel they need to be 100% ready before stepping up.

Confidence, promotion and negotiation

This is something I always reiterate to other women – to take more risks, fight for promotions and salary increases, not be scared to apply for jobs that feel above what they think they can deliver, and to negotiate salaries. Women often have a ‘I’ll get a promotion when I earn it’ mentality, while others apply even when they don’t match all the prerequisites.

Bias and leadership perception

The industry is still heavily male-dominated, and I’m often the only woman in the room. We still see double standards in performance assessments – when men are direct, they’re seen as decisive, but when women are equally direct, they’re sometimes perceived as difficult. That perception gap can materially impact leadership dynamics.

Structural change and maternity policies

It’s crucial to create a culture that allows women to move up the ladder so they can pull more women up. This also touches on maternity issues, as we often see a drop in women in senior positions because they pause their careers and, when they return, there is no longer space for them in the company, so they have to fight to regain it. This often impacts promotions and raises. That’s why one of the most impactful changes we made with  MLHR3 was ensuring women on maternity leave continued to receive variable compensation. Because a significant portion of pay was performance-based, maternity leave effectively reduced annual earnings. Fixing that was a structural correction, not a symbolic gesture.

Diversity and business performance

At Cumbuca, we see diversity as something needed to increase performance because people with different backgrounds bring different perspectives, creative discussions and new solutions. For me, diversity is directly linked to performance, retention and long-term value creation – it’s not a parallel agenda.

Aidana Zhakupbekova, CFO, Rydoo

While progress is slowly being made, the fact remains that women are still significantly underrepresented at senior levels in finance. Globally, women make up roughly 47% of entry-level finance roles, yet only around 14 % hold C-suite level positions. Leadership teams are failing to recognise the strength of their own talent pipelines, and businesses risk missing out on stronger performance as a result.

CFO and finance roles are expanding and becoming more strategic, including responding to geopolitical shocks and leading digital transformation. As this trend continues, the more that women are shut out of these roles, the bigger the gap gets. 

Give to Gain’ should be more than just a theme. It’s a wakeup call for finance leaders to create meaningful access and sponsorship that genuinely supports women’s progression. Mentorship and visibility matter, but they need to be backed by structural change. That means going beyond platitudes to create transparent promotion pathways and equal opportunities for high-value assignments.