Maria Rosa Torres Sejin | Culture, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Programme Manager | Bank of England
Maria is a strategic, innovative, and performance-driven Business Manager excelling in managing and implementing programmes globally.
Born and raised in Colombia, she has spent more than 11 years living and working overseas.
Currently works in Culture, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Bank of England leading the delivery and implementation of one of the Bank’s Strategic priorities for 2024 - Building a diverse and inclusive Bank by creating frameworks and delivering initiatives including the monitoring and evaluation of the Court Review of Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion plan.
Prior to working at the Bank of England, worked at AIG. Started in Latin America, moved to Europe to be responsible for driving migration programmes, process improvement initiatives and strategic shared services transformations across the globe. Promoted to be the Strategy Programme Management Office Head for Europe Middle East and Africa, supporting the planning and execution of the service strategy, footprint, and scale rationalisation of European operations.
Became a mum in 2018 and during this time she founded a project called -Zinu- inspired by her son and memories of her homeland. She launched a line of artisanal bar soaps where 50% of the revenue supported different charities in the UK.
Also have been involved in proving professional services at no cost, to Rent Start a charity helping local people in Elmbridge who are homeless or vulnerably housed and to the Brussels Childbirth Trust a network for expectant parents and families in Belgium.
Maria is constantly striving to learn and help others along her journey.
Kristina Tarkhanyan | Global Markets Management Lead | The Bank of New York Mellon
As someone who is passionate about and inspired by my interactions with people and by helping them towards successful outcomes, it will come as no surprise that most of my career to date I have spent in network and relationship management.
I have 15 years of network and relationship management experience in the securities industry. I previously worked in Deutsche Bank’s Investor Services (both in Moscow and London) and Renaissance Capital's team in London, where I worked closely with existing sub-custodians, clients and counterparts and supported them on various securities products. These included UK and CEE custody market products and another tailor made custody product, which provided clients with access to multiple other securities markets via a single window. Not only did the role enable me to work with sub-custodians, clients and help them towards successful outcomes for their specific challenges, it also allowed me to serve them as leading migration manager to the European Central Bank’s TARGET2-Securities (T2S) settlement platform for Eurozone securities.
Hena Naranbhai | Director Strategic Development | Barclays
Hena is Director of Strategic Development within Barclays, driving strategy and transformation for one of the UK’s largest providers of financial services, which has 48 million customers worldwide.
Being the first girl in her family to go to University, Hena graduated from University with a BA in Finance and Business and qualified as an Accountant in 2005.
Hena found her calling in Financial Services and has spent the last 13 years at Barclays, taking every opportunity to develop her skills and grow with the business, whilst having two children during this time.
In 2016, Hena was promoted to Vice President and in 2017 become Group Finance Testing lead on Structural Reform, writing and executing a risk based test strategy, for a regulatory requirement where all UK retail banks had to separate from the investment bank and other operations.
In 2020, Hena took on her most challenging role, home schooling two children, whilst being redeployed to run one of the Bank’s most critical programmes, Capital Outlook and Liquidity Transformation.
Hena is currently leading a Big Data Programme, phase one successfully implemented for 2022 Year End Reporting, and recently promoted to Director for Strategic Development, fulfilling her ambition to be more than a traditional Asian girl from a small town.
Passionate about Diversity, Inclusion and Equity for all, Hena leads on the strategy and engagement for Barclays Women in Tech. She is also the Wellbeing lead for employee engagement, creating a safe culture for colleagues.
Dominika Chrastilova | Project Analyst | NatWest
I was born in Czechia and since young age trained to be a professional violinist; this led me to earning my first degree in violin performance.
I left that path and decided to go chase my dreams in the UK. I graduated in Sociology and then MSc in International HRM. I became interested in technology and data, and during the lockdowns learned some coding and FinTech fundamentals. I decided to apply for the NatWest CBS graduate scheme as it takes you through four different areas of the bank and covers a wide variety of work. I wanted to keep learning fast after my formal studies and I knew this will be a way how to continue learning while honing my professional skills. Before that I completed internships at the UNICEF, UN Global Compact, and finally at the Glasgow City Council Health and Social Care Partnership. Apart from that I took on many volunteering roles as a TEDx conference co-founder and co-organiser; HR Lead for the Glasgow Economic Conference, and President of the UNICEF at Glasgow University, amongst others. These experiences allowed me to start building professional skills. After joining NatWest I worked on the bank's Climate Hub, a new colleague journey through our agile framework and currently in the Bank of APIs working on the VRPs. Apart from that, I consulted a FinTech start-up in the NatWest Accelerator to help them change the way people donate to charities around the world. I am a mentor at Yoda Mentorship.
Claudia Hill | Threat Intelligence Analyst | Morgan Stanley
Claudia is a GCTI certified threat intelligence analyst in the Mission Management Cell at Morgan Stanley, working to bridge the gap between tactical cyber defense teams and senior management by providing awareness of new and ongoing cyber threats to the Firm.
She has a Master of Arts in Security and Terrorism from the University of Kent and, prior to joining the Firm, worked for a private security company delivering intelligence products to multiple clients and conducting online investigations.
Claudia grew up in Zimbabwe, Africa moving to the UK at the age of 18, an upbringing which she believes has shaped her resilience and "make a plan" attitude when it comes to problem solving. This attitude, creativity, and drive have resulted in continued opportunities, sponsors and achievements, which have accelerated her career exponentially.
Claudia is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in her sector, participating in and leading initiatives within networks. This includes promoting women in technology, representing the associate population in technology management decision making, sitting on panels to encourage careers in cyber security, and, outside of the Firm, mentoring a high potential school student.
Claudia has an infectious positive attitude and her pursuit for knowledge of the cyber threat landscape, tooling, teams, and people has influenced her network, creating greater collaboration and teamwork to produce outstanding results. She continues to drive forward, learn and advocate for others in a career that is only just beginning.
Catherine Wright | Senior Vice President | SVB UK
Catherine Wright is a Senior Vice President in the Corporate Finance team at SVB UK where she is involved in the origination & execution of innovative debt funding for both listed and private mid-market transactions in the Technology sector, spanning across multiple sub-sectors including: Enterprise Software, FinTech, Life Sciences, e-Commerce & Digital Media.
Catherine is Co-Chair & Founding Member of the SVB UK Gender Employee Resource Group, also partnering with The Gender Index, engaging and leading over 650 colleagues to drive systematic change towards a gender-balanced, inclusive and equitable workplace.
Prior to joining SVB UK, Catherine was a VP in the TMT Corporate Banking team at Bank of Ireland. She successfully completed several rotations in Consumer Finance, Industrials Finance & TMT Finance. Whilst in this role, she created and led the UK Gender Balance network where she managed & coordinated initiatives across EMEA, working with key stakeholders to champion I&D across the bank.
Catherine has been recognised for three years running in the Top 100 Future Female Leader HERoes List by Yahoo Finance (2022, 2021 & 2020), she was named as a winner in WeAreTheCity’s TechWomen100 in 2022 and was also shortlisted for the Women in Finance Award 2022. In 2020, Catherine founded The Women in Business Society, a global professional community serving over 1000 women, supporting the professional development of members by way of masterclasses, workshops and a quarterly magazine. As a keynote speaker and accredited life and career coach, Catherine individually coaches and mentors highly motivated and ambitious women across the UK and internationally.
Avni Dave | Project Manager | RBC
Having graduated with a degree in International Business with French and Spanish, my early career was defined by a stint in New York working for Liquidnet, a dark pool liquidity trading firm.
Upon returning to the UK I worked at HSBC within the Global Markets Operations team. The role provided a strong foundation in Banking and allowing me to work in Manila to transition key activities and train a team of five. It was an invaluable opportunity and helped focus my next career move to Deutsche Bank.
At Deutsche Bank I worked as a Project Manager in the Treasury Change team on a number of projects. Notably, executing upon Group Treasury's Brexit strategy, where I led delivery for the Issuance and HQLA desks.
Determined to expand the breadth of my Capital Markets knowledge, I took a role at RBC in 2019 within the Business Transformation Group. As Vice President, my key remit is to deliver and execute multiple cross-functional projects concurrently, covering varied and complex topics such as Brexit, Consumer Duty to strategic initiatives for Capital Markets.
I am a collaborative and trusted partner who works closely with diverse individuals of all levels to effectively solve multifaceted problems in a structured manner.
Keen to channel my personal circumstances and create a more inclusive RBC, in 2022, I became chairperson of an Employee Resource Group, iCare - focused on enhancing the lives and effectiveness of employees by promoting the wellbeing of individuals and the challenges they may be facing in life.
Anya Van Den Berg | Vice President - Data and Analytics | Deutsche Börse
Anya has worked in the data and technology space within the financial sector for 15 years and was recently promoted to lead the Analytics Sales team globally at Deutsche Börse.
She dedicates her time to being a mentor to other women in the industry through the “Women in Banking and Finance” (WIBF) programme and was recently recognised for the Rising Star award at the “European Women in Finance 2022” awards.
Anisha Kochar | Leveraged Finance Associate | NatWest
Anisha is a caring, determined, hardworking individual who approaches all aspects of life with enthusiasm and drive and is always seeking out opportunities to help others.
After discovering a love for mathematics at school, Anisha went on to achieve a first-class BSc Hons degree in MORSE (mathematics, operational research, statistics and economics) at the University of Warwick. In her first year of university, she completed a female insight week in Structured Finance at NatWest, leading to her being offered a summer internship with them. After successfully completing the summer internship, Anisha joined NatWest on the Structured Finance graduate scheme where she did 4 rotations in Rating & ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Advisory, CFILM (Corporates, Financial Institutions & Loan Markets), Mid Cap Leveraged Finance and Infrastructure & Project Finance. Anisha completed the graduate scheme in 2022 and joined the Mid Cap Leveraged Finance team as a permanent associate.
Anisha has always been passionate about helping underrepresented groups of people and creating more diversity and inclusion in society. This led her to become a strategy committee member on the Gender Network, leading the 50 Ways to Fight Bias initiative, and joining the People & Inclusion Hub for Corporate Banking & Structure Finance (CBSF) at NatWest.
Amber Sidney | Vice President, eFX Distribution | Morgan Stanley
North London born and raised, innately ambitious, perfectionist and a dangerous love of shopping - at least half the recipe of your typical Banking candidate.
Like many, I grafted my way into the Finance world through the classic concoction of an Economics-based degree, a Sales & Trading Summer Internship and various industry work experience. Combined with a focus on networking, hard work and a little helping of luck, 5 years later I now sit on the electronic FX Distribution team as a Vice President at Morgan Stanley.
Whilst my route into the industry was conventional, the path to my current role was not - after a spontaneous coffee with a mutual connection at Morgan Stanley and several interviews later, I made the somewhat risky decision to leave my Graduate Scheme at HSBC and undertake a new Sales role in a financial product I had no prior experience with. A steep learning curve initially, I now enjoy my day-to-day, which involves client relationship management and pitching for new business.
As a female in the industry, I feel deeply passionate about ensuring there is a sense of belonging for all individuals. I am an active member of various Diversity and Inclusion initiatives and work hard to challenge the status quo. On the other hand, I also recognise my place of privilege and prioritise working closely with colleagues to give back to external communities in need (most recently fundraising £29,000 for The Felix Project).
My life motto is that tough times don’t last, tough people do.