EDM Council Forms Data Women’s Group

Data industry body the EDM Council has created a Women in Data interest group to encourage greater diversity across data organizations, and help promote women to more senior positions within the industry.

The group—which, like industry association FISD’s Women’s Group, accepts both men and women as members—now has almost 100 members overall, as well as growing regional chapters. While most initial members are also EDM Council members, anyone can join.

People want to know the best way they can be effective, because they know that they get value from having diverse groups.

Dessa Glasser

The aim, says EDM Council executive director John Bottega, is to encourage men and women to work together to ensure equal opportunities, and help women succeed in their chosen field.

Bottega, who originally proposed setting up the group, hopes to create greater social awareness and a sense of community, as well as build a cadre of mentors to guide the next generation of women entering the data industry.

Marla Dans, director and head of data governance at Tradeweb; Dessa Glasser, principal of the Financial Risk Group, and independent board member at Oppenheimer Holdings; and Andrea Ianniello, president and chief commercial officer at Lmrkts, who has also served as president of the Women’s Bond Club, co-chair the group.

The group also recruited Liezel McCord, managing director of the Data Center of Excellence at Morgan Stanley, to lead activities in EMEA.

Meanwhile, Surabhi Jain and Rachael Straiton—respectively, chief data officer at HSBC Hong Kong, and head of data management and governance at DBS Bank in Singapore—are co-heads of Asia-Pacific.

“There are actually a lot of women already in the data industry—probably a 50/50 split—but as you move up the ranks, the number of women in senior roles tends to thin out, whether that’s because they are not being promoted, or because they leave the industry, and come back but in more junior positions,” Glasser (pictured) says. “We want to get people into more senior roles, and get people talking and learning how to climb the ranks.”

Beyond building a community and mentorship program, the group will highlight upcoming events and speaking opportunities for women to demonstrate their expertise and promote the group’s aims. It will expand the amount of content on a dedicated page within the EDM Council’s EDMConnect portal, which currently includes a members directory, a charter, an events calendar, a member spotlight interview, as well as other resources.

The level of interest across the board so far demonstrates that increasingly, people in senior roles at financial companies recognize that diversity contributes to better corporate decisions overall, and in particular, to better data strategies, Glasser says. “People want to know the best way they can be effective because they know that they get value from having diverse groups,” she adds.

Additionally, involving men in the group helps both men and women tackle diversity issues, Glasser says.

“We are really encouraging men to join because we need both men and women to help women get to the next level. …Women need to network with men and more senior people to get mentoring opportunities. And our male colleagues are reaching out because they want to know how they can help and what they can do, because a lot of men are not sure of the best way to go about networking and mentoring women,” she says.

People interested in joining the group can register on its website.

The group is recruiting volunteers to act as co-chairs on content, and an affinity group liaison to work with other EDM Council groups, events, and membership. However, it can also draw on the EDM Council’s full-time staff as needed, including Bottega. Anyone interested in filling these roles should contact Dans via the EDMConnect platform, or by email at marlaadans@gmail.com.