The finance world continues to be male-dominated, although with time, inevitably as any other industry, more women continue to work their way through despite all the challenges they may face. Leadership positions continue to open up for women who have shown not only the professional experience but also the incomparable innovative contributions that demonstrate to come from different perspectives and variables, unlikely to occur if solely men assume leading roles.
A woman worthy to mention is Argentinian born Karina Gibson, who has worked her way through to an outstanding professional career all throughout Latin America. After completing her studies in the United States, Karina lived in Bolivia and worked with Citi, one of the most important financial groups in the world, and now she works for a company based in Colombia, giving her the opportunity to have an extensive portfolio of clients all over the world.
She started her career working in marketing and PR, giving her the opportunity to work closely with her clients letting her understand and determine specific needs her customers had, providing solutions based on those needs, being technology—of course—the main resource to combine. It is then when she takes the first step in developing strategies that make a difference for clients and for a few years from her position as Chief Strategy Officer at FinConecta, one of the most relevant companies in financial technology, she has reached a prominent position that exalts it, showing her outstanding abilities as a reference in finance workforce.
Standing out in the finance field is not an easy task, let alone for a woman; however, she has managed to do so. Despite the fact that women generally need to jump through hoops to show their ability. Karina continues to successfully fight this uphill battle.
Fortunately, we continue to see an important growth in initiatives, strategies, and positive outcomes when closing the gender gap in the overall workforce of the finance industry. Specifically looking through the technology lense, for Karina, “the work must start at school, we must help girls to embrace technology as a way to participate at all levels in our societies. You have to train to be able to stand out in an industry in which we still see that women are underrepresented and underpaid.”
Gibson thinks that “You have to understand that diversity benefits everyone. According to a 2020 McKinsey study, more diverse and inclusive companies perform better, hire better talent, and have more engaged employees.” She is a faithful believer that her professional example will motivate and allow many more women to access complex positions and vital strategic positions or roles in banking and finance.
The empowerment that can be achieved by providing tools at the base of the pyramid will lead to a multiplier effect that promotes transparency, efficiency, equity, and respect for women within any area in which they wish to develop.
