#FixingFinanceForWomen    #BackHerBrilliance    #WomensFinancialInclusion    #EconomicSecuirty    #WomensEconomicSecurity

Who attended the forum…..

What an incredible gathering!

We kicked off with a beautiful Acknowledgement of Country by CEO & Founder of Chocolate on PurposeFiona Harrison, a proud Wiradyuri Woman.

How exciting to see such a diverse array of representation from across the finance sector ecosystem. Thank you to all our wonderful speakers and panels and especially to our Sisters for sharing their stories of engaging with the finance sector as micro business owners, and their insights as to how we can fix finance for women in micro business.

Organisations regulating or delivering services today increasingly find themselves on the frontline of delivering social services, due to the intimate role they play in the lives of citizens and users. Growing demands for safety and inclusion challenge everyone to transition their thinking from pursuing ‘narrow’ to ‘enlightened’ self-interest. Take a moment to click here and read ‘Embracing enlightened self-interest’.

  • CommBank
  • Westpac
  • NAB
  • ANZ
  • Suncorp Group
  • AMP Bank
  • Women in Banking & Finance
  • Super Consumers Australia
  • Per Capita
  • Centre for Women’s Economic Security (CWES)
  • WISR
  • HNRY
  • WHIN
  • Purposeful Capital
  • Funding4Growth Incubator
  • Minderoo
  • Flequity Ventures
  • Impact Seed
  • Amali Capital
  • SBE Australia
  • Coralus
  • LIFT Women
  • AMP Foundation
  • Paul Ramsay Foundation
  • Ecstra Foundation
  • Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)
  • Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO)
  • Impaqt Queensland
  • Queensland Government
  • Office of the Chief Entrepreneur
  • Department of Social Services (DSS)
  • Smart Precinct North Queensland
  • THE Rural Woman
  • Arise Foundation
  • Grameen Australia
  • Australian Retail Credit Association
  • International Women’s Federation of Commerce and Industry
  • UFS
  • Financially Empowered
  • Murawin
  • Advisory Board Centre
  • CFO Worx
  • KoziLabs
  • Kooyong Group
  • The Flow Society
  • Zinn & Co
  • Dent and Co
  • Kirrah+Co
  • Zebra Research Pty Ltd
  • EY
  • McKinsey & Company
  • Finucane Consulting
  • Bright Pilots
  • Poetic Thinking

Ben Crothers Bright Pilots

#ListenToHer

Customer needs are not always adequately reflected in the existing product landscape. This is especially the case with emerging customer cohorts such as micro business, specifically women in micro business.
 
#ListenToHer is a critical foundational aspect to designing with women in micro business in mind.
 
What will it really take to innovate and integrate the right mix of financing offerings for a seamless financing pathway for start up and early stage micro business growth?
  • Statistics (Coming soon)
  • Lived Experience Quotes (Coming soon)
  • Case Studies (Coming soon)
  • Our Impact
Related Research

Click the links below to access key reports and related research that were referenced during the forum:

Global Sisters
Women’s Economic Security Pathways Program
ListenToHer – Making invisible things visible (coming end of May)

LIVE Partnership Opportunities for Collective Success –
Fixing finance for women in micro business ‘together’!

The forum might have wrapped up for 2023, but this is not the end of our journey together.
 
We all have our individual goals, and the goals of our individual organisations, but we’re interested in the goals that are good for HER as well as good for your organisation. Together, we are the financial services ecosystem that women need to have positive experiences engaging with, to advance their business and support the establishment of their financial safety, security and economic wellbeing.
 

In the words of Bruce Billson, Federal Ombudsman for Small Business and Family Enterprise “We need to find more ways to nurture possibilities, making it more likely success is within reach of every woman. It is not within our gift that every business will become a success – But it should be our mission to make sure no businesses fail from simply not knowing about or having access to something which might have made all the difference.”

What is the next most interesting thing you want to do?

  • Gain insights and engage in further converse with peers
  • Improve financial products and services by applying a richer gender frame and more granular data
  • Discreetly partner through co-opetition or collaboration with selected partners
  • Visibly partner to innovate, and share learnings and insights with all sector stakeholders – in pilots such as the Global Sisters – Lift Women initiative
Want to know more about The Women’s Economic Security Program, discuss opportunities for facilitated support to conduct an in-house design conversation or maybe you are looking to stress-test emerging products and services for women in micro business. Or perhaps now is the right time to discuss what innovative pilot partnership opportunities exist!
 
What ever support you are needing for your organisation to take your next step toward making it more likely business success and economic security is within reach of every woman, please contact us.
 
We look forward to continuing the conversations kick-started at this year’s 2023 Financial Services Provider Forum – Fixing Finance for Women in Micro Business.

Key Speakers

Mandy Richards
CEO
Global Sisters

Sangeeta Venkatesan
President
Women in Banking & Finance

Irene Tsang
CEO
Lift Women

Bruce Billson
Ombudsman
Australian Small Business
and Family Enterprise

Caroline Stewart
CEO
ECSTRA Foundation

Rebecca Glenn
Centre for Women’s Economic Security
CWES

Monica Bradley
Founder
Purposeful Capital

Elizabeth Toussaint
ASBFEO
Principal Data Analyst, Economics and Data Analytics Team

Karena Ly
CMO
Lift Women

Catherine Fitzpatrick
Founder and Director
Flequity

Angela MacMillan
Commonwealth Bank Group
Customer Advocate

Nicola Stokes
General Manager
AMP Foundation Tomorrow Makers

Dreu Harrison
Founder & Director
Poetic Thinking

Ben Crothers
Principal Facilitator
Bright Pilots

Dr Alicia Aitken
Transition Delivery Director – Suncorp Integration
ANZ Bank

Suanne Russell
Lead Ombudsman Small Business and Transactions
Australian Financial Complaints Authority AFCA

River Paul
Director Economics and Data Analytics
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman
ASBFEO

Rosie Thomas
Deputy Director
Super Consumers Australia

Emma Dawson
Executive Director
Per Capita

Heather Thomson
Chief Operating Officer
Global Sisters
Robyn Robertson
Women’s Economic Pathways Program & Financial Inclusion Lead
Global Sisters