Communicating Authentically

Firm Partner Joins Fearless Women on Wall Street

On March 8, International Women’s Day 2017, the “Fearless Girl” statue appeared in lower Manhattan, facing down the famous Wall Street bull statue—making a statement advocating for gender diversity on corporate boards. (On the same day, we launched a website to celebrate the #beboldforchange movement.) Fearless Girl was originally meant to be removed on April 2—but she’s not budging, at least until February 2018.

Deepali Vyas recently joined Fearless Girl, at least in spirit, as part of a panel of experts at Ellevate Network’s “Fearless Women: Disruption & Diversity on Wall Street” event. She joined fellow panelists Deborah Larrison, Managing Director, Associate Market Executive, Merrill Lynch; Christina Sanchez, Commercial Development Manager, US Equities, ICAP; and Bertha Coombs, from CNBC, who moderated the panel discussion.
“We covered some really important issues around why, in 2017, we still have dangerously low representation of females and people of color in the financial services industry,” Vyas commented.

The panel discussed the effect of gender norms in women’s careers; gender diversity leadership; issues facing women in terms of hiring, firing, and retention; and the “Bro Culture” in teams and organizations.

“We know diversity makes great business sense and creates better financial returns,” Vyas explained, “so it’s important to be in conversations about what’s getting in the way—and to proactively discuss solutions to help drive success—for women, and for the world.”