Attendees to reconnect, discuss reassessing goals, recruitment, retention, DEI, mental health and more. Guest Speaker Leigh Gilmore, general manager, Live Journalism at Dow Jones to join.

SFNet’s Women in Secured Finance Conference returns in person June 15-16, 2022, at Convene (237 Park Ave., New York, NY).  Industry peers will gather to tackle the big questions in emerging from “pandemic mode.”

This interactive conference will include keynote speaker, Leigh Gilmore, general manager, Live Journalism at Dow Jones, a panel presentation and roundtable discussions focusing on issues such as reassessing career and personal goals and how to achieve them, reconnecting with peers and new hires after being “distanced” during the pandemic, navigating a hybrid/unstructured work setting and avoiding burnout. There will also be ample networking time at the Opening Reception the evening of June 15 at Paul Hastings in New York City from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

“I am very excited that the Women in Secured Finance Conference will be in person again after two years of virtual-only events,” said Laura Glass, chair of SFNet’s Women in Secured Finance Committee and senior vice president and senior portfolio manager for Bank of America Business Capital (BABC). “The Conference will provide ample time for networking and interactive discussions in addition to the fireside chat and panel. It’s not too late -- sign up now to join us.”  

The Conference will be held June 16 with breakfast, followed by Opening Remarks and Fireside Chat “What's Next? Reconnecting/Reshaping Our Destiny” from 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Special guest Leigh Gilmore, general manager, Live Journalism at Dow Jones, and Jennifer Cann, senior vice president, head of Retail Finance Group Portfolio at Bank of America, will engage in an informal conversation about lessons learned during the past two years, what to let go of and what to keep as we move forward.

Gilmore will discuss how Dow Jones’ live events had to reshape its business model overnight due to the pandemic and the mindset that helped them succeed to rebuild one event and sponsor at a time.

"We were in the events business and suddenly not only couldn't we have events, we couldn't leave our houses! And neither could any of the other inmates.  We were unwinding contracts, we were looking under every rock to see where we could save and there were a few dark moments when the whole team was at risk,” Gilmore said, reflecting on Spring 2020.  “We had to survive. We had to innovate.  Virtual events seem so obvious, but to build a business on the scale that we had built over a decade for in person we had to reinvent our proposition, establish a platform, upskill, launch and fly while we were essentially still building the plane. I was told to prepare to cut and cut deep. Instead, we reimagined events, vetted 70 platforms, secured sponsorship, scaled audience, nurtured community. Not only was it an undeniable success, it was one of the most rewarding periods of my career. We created two new business lines and grew and upskilled the team which has since doubled in size.”

The teams that did best, Gilmore added, were the ones that chose to see the opportunity in the challenge, and viewed it as a chance to spark change and accelerate innovation. “We were suddenly able to do things we had been wanting to do for years.”

Gilmore and Cann will also discuss how they went from weathering the storm to reimagining and reinvention and how women are rising to the challenge but often still going unrecognized.

Opportunities that have come out of the pandemic will also be discussed.

“It’s an opportunity to design the future of work and evaluate our own individual circumstances,” Gilmore added.  “This is our time.Ask,is this where I want to be or what I want to be doing? Is there anything else out there?”

The Shaping the Experience Panel Discussion will feature industry executives from an array of sectors discussing “What’s Next” as the industry learns to adapt to both hybrid work formats and fully remote or fully in-office. Panelists will address how they structure their days around the evolving environment, attracting and retaining talent, making the most of the time in front of influential players in their organizations, how to ensure that DEI initiatives are successful and what changes have occurred as well as mental health. A Q&A from the audience will follow.

Stacy Hopkins, of counsel, Paul Hastings LLP, will serve as moderator. Panelists include Meredith L. Carter, president and CEO, Context Business Lending, LLC; Fellicia Foster, managing director and head of Talent, DEI & Culture, BMO Harris Bank; Kathleen Parker, director of business development, HYPERAMS, LLC and Didi Moser, director, Technology Finance, Wells Fargo Capital Finance.

“Attendees can expect to hear how different firms, banks and non-banks, address the issues of recruiting/retention in the midst of the Great Resignation/Great Retirement, (mental health, and the effectiveness of hybrid working upon the Great Return to Office,” Moser explained. “I was already on a hybrid working model prior to the pandemic, so working 100% remotely did not make a huge impact on me. However, I became a new mom a couple of months before the pandemic, and the Great Resignation affecting other industries (mainly childcare) was affecting me more as I have to navigate around shortened daycare hours and stricter COVID-19 protocols resulting in having an infant/toddler home more often than I would prefer during the work week. The return to office was difficult to embrace at first, given the challenge of childcare and the two hours of commute time each day; however, having a boss that trusts your ability to get your work done, regardless of your situation, and the flexibility of when you need to be in the office, really helped the transition as I settle back into the new norm.” 

For attracting and retaining talent, Meredith Carter, president and CEO, Context Business Lending, LLC, has been able to attract talent from across the country, having moved to a fully-remote office.

"We now have teammates in 14 different states," Carter said. "A few of our newer teammates had worked for institutions with plans to return to the office. This prompted our now-teammates to look for new, permanently remote jobs.  And we benefited from that logistical inflexibility and “old school' mindset by bringing aboard great new people."

With being permanently remote, Carter has stressed their need to overcommunicate.
"It is easy for intent and tone to get misconstrued when people don’t have enough background communicating with each other as to understand where another person is coming from." 

Context Business Lending also had every member of its team contact three other members of the team per quarter to get to know them a little better. 

Following the panel will be the Roundtable Discussions, focusing on reconnecting and reassessing. Attendees will break into groups to discuss the process of reconnecting as they continue to navigate the “new normal” that has developed over the last two years and the reevaluation that everyone has done since the pandemic. Discussions will center around where to go next and what the plan is to get there versus being content and turning down opportunities.  

The event will wrap up around 2:30 p.m. Head to SFNet.com to register. For those attending, be sure to use #SFNetWISF22 for sharing photos or content on social media.