Overview
Bloomberg, in partnership with the UCL Afro Carribean and Women in Finance Societies, invite you to join us for a panel discussion in celebration of UK Black History Month. The event will highlight the lived experiences of successful and talented black women; the challenges and opportunities and how they have navigated their careers. You will get an insight into the financial industry, gain leadership skills and learn how you can use your diversity as a strength. The panel will feature women at different stages of their careers to shine a light on different levels of leadership and progression through the industry. You will also get a chance to meet Bloomberg employees from our Black Professional and Women’s Communities as well as members of our recruitment team.
Moderator:
Pamela Hutchinson – Bloomberg Head of Diversity and Inclusion EMEA
Panellists:
Heather Melville OBE – RBS, Director Strategic Partnerships
Tulani St Hilaire – Bloomberg, Tradebook Compliance
Abisola Barber – Barclays, Trading Business Manager
Tia Counts – JP Morgan, Exec Director
Agenda
17:30 – 18:00 Arrivals
18:00 – 19:00 Panel Discussion and Q&A
19:00 – 20:00 Networking Reception
Speakers
Pamela Hutchinson
Heather Melville
Heather Melville OBE, Director for Strategic Partnerships and Head of Business Inclusion Initiatives for RBS, was recognised in the Financial Times 2016 & 2017 inaugural Upstanding 100 Executive BAME Leaders Power List and was named the winner of WeAreTheCity 2016, Top 5 Rising Star champion for Diversity.
Heather was awarded the prestigious Women in Banking & Finance Award for achievement under “Champion for Women” and in 2012 was awarded the World of Difference 100 award (TIAW) recognising Heather as one of the top 100 Women worldwide who have made a difference to the economic empowerment of women.
She established the RBS women’s network and in addition sits on the board for Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and leads the CMI women.
Outside of the financial industry, having completed an executive coaching programme, Heather is a Career Coach and Mentor advising young people who are striving to be tomorrows Entrepreneurs. She represents RBS as a Non-Executive Director for Enterprise Enfield a business consultancy funded by the Government to help small businesses
Heather graduated from IBM business school, together with a wealth of international experience secured over a 30 plus year career in the world of Banking, Finance & International Sales with her recent years focusing on diversity and Inclusion with regular contributions to Sky news and BBC world.
Heather was recently recognised in the Queens Birthday Honours list and received an OBE for her services on Gender Equality.
Tulani St Hilaire
Ms. Tulani St. Hilaire is a Senior Compliance Officer for Bloomberg with twelve years of experience in the financial services industry, with a focus on compliance.
As the Senior Compliance Officer and Manager for the Business Line Compliance department, Tulani is responsible for providing support to several regulated businesses within Bloomberg. Prior to becoming a Senior Compliance Officer for Bloomberg in August 2014, Tulani has worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank AG, Royal Bank of Canada, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse former to her initial career in the Legal profession.
Abisola Barber
At 26 years old, Abisola has amassed a number of great achievements. Winner of 2018 Women in Banking & Finance and WeAreTheCity’s ‘Rising Star’ Awards, and named in Top 20 Ethnic Minority Future Leaders 2017 by Financial Times & EMpower, Abisola is a pioneering young professional to watch. A hardworking and dedicated individual, Abisola is a Business Manager for three Global Trading desks at Barclays and is a noted trailblazer in the workplace. Her passion for Diversity & Inclusion and breaking down barriers to participation is highlighted in her efforts to steward both contemporaries and the next generation through her role within Barclays’ gender network, WIN. Abisola graduated from UCL in 2014 with MSc International Public Policy; having completed her BA (Hons) Philosophy, Politics and Economics at University of York in 2013.
Tia Angela Counts
Tia Counts is the Global Corporate & Investment Bank and EMEA Head of Advancing Black Leaders (ABL) for JP Morgan, responsible for leading and driving the ABL strategy supporting managers in attracting, developing, retaining and advancing black talent at the firm. Tia also contributes to the broader Diversity and Inclusion agenda for JP Morgan. Prior to her current role, Tia was an Executive Director and Assistant General Counsel at JP Morgan providing strategic legal counsel to the Corporate & Investment Bank. Tia has over 20 years’ experience specialising in domestic and cross border investment banking both as a lawyer and on the trading floor as a cross asset-class structurer of financial products. A diversity champion, Tia is a founding member of the Black Leadership Forum, a group of senior black heritage officers based in the EMEA offices of JP Morgan, who work in support of the ABL global initiative. Tia is also a leader in the Culture and Conduct program run by the Legal department and is regularly invited to speak on the topic for various JPMorgan groups.
Tia joined JP Morgan in 2012 from Morgan Stanley where she was an Executive Director in the Financial Engineering Group, an Executive Director and Head of the EMEA Equity Derivatives legal execution team, and prior to this a Vice President in the Markets practice within legal. Tia worked at Morgan Stanley in both their London office and New York office for 10 years. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Tia was a lawyer at Clifford Chance’s New York office where she worked in the Derivatives and Capital Markets team, with a focus on Latin America.
Tia received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.