Numitas attracts Jane Osbourn and Carla Stent to speak at CFO Club
Finance consultancy and interim firm Numitas has attracted two senior female executives to participate in its CFO Club. Jane Osbourn, Vice President R&D at MedImmune, and Carla Stent, former COO of Virgin Group, will be among the key speakers for Numitas’ CFO Clubs which take place this autumn in Cambridge and London.
The Numitas Network is a large UK network of finance directors with a group of more than 2,500 Finance Directors and CFOs. Numitas runs the CFO Club, a series of events open to network members, with each event hosting an interesting speaker and peer to peer networking with light food and drink. The club has no membership fee, and no obligations at all for those attending, while the event allows for no selling, technical updates, or – for the sake of keeping things fun and interesting – no PowerPoint and no ties.
The CFO Club is currently held in Cambridge and London. Previous speakers have included Paul Misener, the Vice President of Amazon.com; Simon Thorpe, the former COO of UBS Bank; and Shaun Grady, Vice President, AstraZeneca. Now, the former COO of Virgin Group and Barclays Bank, Carla Stent, and Vice President R&D at MedImmune, Jane Osbourn, will be the next to deliver an address to the club.
In a release announcing the speakers, Numitas said it is delighted to have secured two prominent female figures to promote sustainable female leadership. Both women are passionate about supporting women in the workplace and inspiring leaders, so we took some time to talk to them about their own inspiration and how they are helping to develop females of the future.
According to Stent, companies challenging the status-quo when it comes to the gender divide will take sustained and concerted efforts from businesses. She said, “The work of organisations like the 30% Club has been important and influential but of themselves, they cannot create the change. Chairs, voting shareholders and customers need to want true change and influence the boards and leadership to create the opportunities. There is not a simple silver bullet to solve this issue – it is going to take collective will and appetite to make the systemic changes.”
In agreement, Osbourn stated, “It’s not just about putting more women into more senior roles, it’s all about diversity of talent; allowing leaders to have a range of different backgrounds, perspectives and ideas; that’s what creates a strong group. We also need to nurture, encourage, and mentor young employees. It’s the responsibility of experienced leaders to bring on the next generation of talent through the organisation. MedImmune is a great example of this.”
When asked about the importance of networking to address the ever evolving world of business, Stent added, “Leadership has changed over the last 3 decades. A good leader still needs to have vision, be articulate and motivational…but also it is now almost more important to value people and embrace qualities such as empathy, openness and honesty… Embrace every opportunity and create spaces where you can grow... I have found that I grow the most and learn the most when I am brave enough to step into the unknown…”
Osbourn expanded, “I am driven by a very strong and deep-seated interest in science, the possibilities presented by technology advancement, and in making a real difference to patients’ lives… In my experience, it’s important to connect with your peer network and talk to lots of people…”
Related: UK gender pay gap costs £6,300 per woman.
