21 March, 2025
Diverse Perspectives Shaping the Financial Industry‘s Future
On Friday, the 21st of March, Multicultural Network in Finance hosted our annual event, Diverse Perspectives Shaping the Financial Industry’s Future. The event was a success, with 150 eager participants gathered at Belfius, who were so kind as to host us at their establishment.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was a key theme for the event, as we aim to create a safe environment for multicultural talents in finance. Why does this matter? Diverse and inclusive teams drive innovation, enhance decision-making, boost competitiveness, and fuel company growth. Yet, systemic barriers still prevent many multicultural talents from fully thriving in finance. It’s time to change that
This was made prevalent through the thoughtful introduction by the team at Belfius, Esther Misheng Mbidi, Permanent Control Non-Financial and SPOC of Origin and Patrick Devis, Chief of Staff at Belfius Insurance and sponsor of BEING.
Mukan Heynderickx, Senior Compliance Officer at KBC and MNF Data Workstream Head and Claire Godding, Senior Diversity and Inclusion Advisor at Febelfin, gave us some insights on biases in the employee life cycle, sharing from the Inclusion Survey and Mystery CVs and tips on how to reduce the risk of discrimination. In this session, we learnt that the employee life cycle is different for employees of multicultural backgrounds, and we need to take into account the risk of racial biases in employment.
Do you want to know how to tackle racial discrimination? Check out our 16 recommendations here: recommendations-of-the-discrimination-prevention-in-recruitment-workgroup-of-febelfin-0225.pdf
Multicultural Network in Finance came to be through our collaboration with Assuralia, where we had CEO Hein Lannoy deliver a powerful testimonial on the importance of multicultural inclusion. This was rounded off with the signing of the Multicultural Network in Finance Pledge.
You can also make an impact and display your dedication to multicultural inclusion as an employee and a manager. Sign our pledge for employees/management here: https://forms.office.com/e/jNDMcQubub
We were graced by a keynote by two energetic and inspiring speakers, Manuel De Los Santos and Zeyneb Benmammar, from AXA, who shared with us the importance and the power of ethnic diversity in finance.
Rounding up, you all had a moment to share your insights through our World Café. The World Café was a moment where everyone could have open discussions on reducing racial discrimination within finance and how we can adopt these principles into our everyday lives. Overall, these conversations were a great success. If you want to know more about what was discussed around the tables, check it out here: Multicultural Network in Finance World Café | Multicultural Network in Finance
Multicultural Network in Finance would like to thank you all for participating in our annual event. If you are interested in keeping with MNF, check out our LinkedIn: Multicultural Network in Finance: Overview | LinkedIn
Do you want to be part of the team that made this all possible? Join MNF today as a volunteer: https://forms.office.com/e/7NhuRu44Mr
We would also like to say a big thank you to Mr. H Photography for the amazing photos of the event. Follow him on Instagram to see more of his work (mister.h_wedding) and check out the rest of the images here
