Leadership That Opens Doors | Harrington Starr's IWD Event 2026

Leadership That Opens Doors: FinTech Leadership, Careers and Inclusion at Harrington Starr’s International Women’s Day 2026 Event

The conversation around leadership, opportunity, and inclusion in financial technology continues to evolve. At Harrington Starr’s International Women’s Day event 2026, titled Leadership That Opens Doors, leaders from across FinTech, technology, AI, and financial services came together to discuss the realities of career progression, confidence, mentorship, and the future of work.

Hosted by Nadia Edwards-Dashti and Georgia Richardson, the event brought together a diverse range of speakers to explore what it truly means to open doors for others in the workplace. With Harrington Starr operating as a global FinTech recruitment business, the themes of the event directly reflected the talent conversations shaping the financial technology industry today: who gets access to opportunity, how leaders develop future talent, and how organisations can create environments where people can thrive.

From discussions around confidence and leadership to conversations about AI and technology innovation, the event showcased the power of community in shaping the future of FinTech careers.

FinTech Leadership and Opening Career Doors

Opening the event, Nadia Edwards-Dashti welcomed attendees to the fifth Harrington Starr International Women’s Day celebration, explaining that the theme for 2026 was centred around the concept of leadership that actively opens doors for others.

The event was designed not just as a celebration of International Women’s Day, but as a practical and interactive experience where attendees could reflect on their own careers and the people who had helped them progress.

Nadia spoke about the importance of allyship, sponsorship, and advocacy in the workplace. As someone who helped build Harrington Starr into a global FinTech recruitment business over the past 16 years, she explained that she has always been passionate about careers and the environments organisations create for their people.

She shared her belief that companies must actively build workplaces where employees feel safe to contribute ideas, where debate is encouraged, and where career progression is based on fairness and opportunity.

Attendees were encouraged to look around the room and reflect on the relationships and connections that shape careers. Nadia highlighted that every professional can recall a moment when someone believed in them and opened a door that changed their career trajectory.

The goal of the event, she explained, was to encourage everyone in attendance to take the lessons from the day back to their teams and organisations, continuing the conversation about leadership and opportunity long after the event finished.

Women in STEM and the FinTech Talent Pipeline

One of the early sessions of the event explored the relationship between education, confidence, and the pipeline of talent entering FinTech and STEM industries.

Lorin D'Costa, Founder and CEO of She Plays To Win, joined the stage alongside Alisha Vyas, one of the young women involved in the initiative. The discussion focused on the gender imbalance that still exists in many technical disciplines.

Lorin shared a striking statistic with the audience. In chess tournaments around the world, only around eight percent of participants are female. If there are one hundred players competing, typically ninety-two are male and only eight are female.

While this statistic relates to chess, Lorin explained that the impact extends far beyond the game itself. Chess develops strategic thinking, analysis, and problem-solving skills that closely mirror the capabilities required in fields such as technology, financial services, and FinTech.

He described how initiatives like She Plays To Win aim to build confidence in young girls by introducing them to chess early in life. Through tournaments, mentoring, and school programmes, the organisation helps young women develop the skills and self-belief that can later translate into STEM careers.

Alisha shared her personal experience of learning chess at the age of six and how the game shaped her mindset. Through competing in tournaments and analysing her mistakes, she developed resilience, patience, and strategic thinking.

She explained that chess also gave her confidence as a woman competing in a male-dominated environment. Those experiences later helped prepare her for studying STEM subjects at school, where she was often one of the few girls in the classroom.

Her story demonstrated how early exposure to problem-solving environments can play a crucial role in encouraging more women to pursue careers in FinTech, technology, and financial services.

Confidence, Failure and Building FinTech Careers

A key theme throughout the event was the importance of confidence and resilience in building successful careers.

Alisha reflected on how losing games early in her chess journey taught her valuable lessons about accountability and improvement. Rather than focusing on failure, she learned to analyse mistakes and approach challenges with a mindset of growth.

She explained that sitting for hours in a silent room during chess tournaments required immense concentration and patience. Over time, these experiences strengthened her ability to stay focused under pressure and adapt when circumstances changed.

These lessons translate directly into the world of financial technology, where professionals must constantly analyse data, develop strategies, and respond to rapidly changing markets.

The discussion also highlighted the importance of creating supportive communities where women can encourage each other. Through the She Plays To Win programme, young players develop friendships and networks that empower them to pursue their ambitions.

In many ways, this mirrors the collaborative communities that exist within the FinTech ecosystem itself.

Leadership Lessons from Real Career Stories

The event also featured personal stories from professionals who had experienced career-defining moments when someone opened a door for them.

Michelle Hunt, Senior Account Manager at SteelEye, shared how a hiring manager took a chance on her early in her career. Fresh out of university, Michelle had applied for a role at Bloomberg even though she lacked some of the technical experience required.

During the interview process she encountered a technical Excel task she couldn’t complete. Rather than attempting to bluff her way through the challenge, she chose honesty and admitted she didn’t yet know how to perform the task.

Despite this, the hiring manager recognised her eagerness to learn and offered her the role.

That decision became the starting point for Michelle’s career in financial technology. She spent six years at Bloomberg developing her skills before progressing further in the industry.

Her story illustrated how leaders can transform careers simply by recognising potential and giving people an opportunity to prove themselves.

Being Comfortable with Discomfort in Leadership

Another memorable session came from Suki Fuller, who encouraged attendees to rethink how they approach professional environments.

Suki shared a story from early in her career when she attended a conference filled with Latin American diplomats, despite not speaking Spanish or Portuguese. Initially the experience felt intimidating, but she realised that growth often comes from stepping into uncomfortable situations.

Her advice was simple yet powerful: professionals must learn to be “comfortably uncomfortable”.

She explained that many people attend networking events and instinctively gravitate toward those who share similar backgrounds or perspectives. However, true learning happens when individuals engage with people who think differently.

This mindset is particularly important in FinTech, where innovation often emerges from diverse viewpoints and interdisciplinary collaboration.

For professionals building careers in financial technology, embracing discomfort can lead to new ideas, partnerships, and opportunities.

Navigating Leadership as Women in FinTech

Lynda Clarke’s talk addressed the realities women face as they progress into leadership roles.

She began by highlighting a global statistic that emphasised the challenge. Out of 193 UN member states, only 32 are currently led by women.

Lynda explained that while organisations have made progress in supporting gender diversity, systemic biases still shape career pathways.

Women and men may enter the workforce in similar numbers, but representation drops significantly at senior leadership levels.

She also discussed how women are often expected to demonstrate proven performance before being promoted, while men are frequently advanced based on perceived potential.

Another key theme was the concept of readiness. Many professionals wait until they feel completely prepared before pursuing new opportunities. Lynda argued that this mindset can limit career progression.

Men, she explained, often apply for roles when they meet around sixty percent of the criteria, while women typically wait until they meet nearly all of them.

Her message to the audience was clear: readiness is often a myth. Careers progress when individuals step forward, even when they feel uncertain.

Sponsorship and Advocacy in FinTech Careers

The power of sponsorship was illustrated through the story shared by Tribeni Chougule.

During her time at Visa, Tribeni had been overlooked for a leadership role because she was no longer a hands-on technologist working directly with code.

However, a senior sponsor within the organisation recognised her leadership capabilities and advocated for her to take on the role of Head of Technology at the Innovation Centre in London.

Thanks to that support, she was given the opportunity to lead the team and establish the operating model for the centre.

The result was a high-performing technology team with strong gender representation, including sixty-four percent women — an outcome that exceeded the diversity levels of other teams within the organisation.

Tribeni’s story highlighted the critical role sponsorship plays in career development, particularly in industries like FinTech where leadership opportunities can shape entire teams and cultures.

AI, Innovation and the Future of FinTech Talent

The final talk of the event focused on the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence.

Sumathi Menon, who leads the UK chapter of Women Defining AI, discussed how AI technology is transforming industries and creating new opportunities for professionals.

She described a recent initiative where women from diverse backgrounds participated in an eight-week hackathon to build AI prototypes addressing real societal challenges.

Many of the participants had no prior technical experience, yet by the end of the programme they had developed working solutions ranging from healthcare support tools to financial literacy applications.

Sumathi argued that the barriers preventing people from engaging with AI are no longer primarily technological.

Instead, the biggest obstacle is often a lack of confidence or belief that individuals have the right credentials to participate.

Her message reinforced one of the central themes of the event: leadership involves helping people recognise opportunities that may already exist.

Building the Future of FinTech Together

Throughout Harrington Starr’s International Women’s Day 2026 event, a consistent message emerged from every speaker.

Careers are rarely built in isolation. They are shaped by mentors, sponsors, colleagues, and communities who open doors and create opportunities.

In the FinTech industry, where innovation is driven by talent, leadership plays a crucial role in ensuring those doors remain open to the widest possible range of people.

By encouraging confidence, supporting emerging talent, and advocating for others, leaders can help shape a financial technology sector that is more inclusive, innovative, and forward-thinking.

As a global FinTech recruitment business, Harrington Starr continues to support organisations in building the teams that will drive the next phase of FinTech growth.

Events like Leadership That Opens Doors demonstrate how conversations about leadership, diversity, and opportunity can inspire professionals to rethink how they support the next generation of talent.

The challenge now is to continue that momentum, ensuring that the doors opened today create opportunities for many more careers in the future.