Please provide a short outline of your current role and a brief description of any other relevant career experience
As the Learning & Development (L&D) Administrator at Man Group, I help support employee development by organising firm-wide and team training sessions. I also help coordinate the office insight visits, for the charities and schools that we partner with.

Why is CSR/ESG/Sustainability/Responsible Business important to your organisation?
Responsibility is one of Man Group’s core principles, rooted in our belief that it is our duty to act with integrity in everything we do. For us, this goes beyond our work as an investment manager, and giving back to our communities is a fundamental part of who we are. Through ManKind, our firmwide community volunteering programme, we strive to play an active and meaningful role in the communities around us. Encouraged by our senior management, ManKind gives everyone at Man Group two additional days of paid leave each year to volunteer with a cause close to their heart. Beyond the direct benefit to those communities, volunteering broadens perspectives, strengthens skills and deepens our understanding of the challenges others face, and what we can do to help. ELBA has enabled our people to make a tangible difference where it matters most.

We are equally committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace where difference is celebrated and every individual has an equal opportunity to thrive. ELBA plays a valuable role in helping us source volunteering opportunities that address environmental issues and tackle social challenges, including providing access to office insight experience for underrepresented communities, who might not otherwise have that chance. This aligns closely with the strategic pillars of Drive, our global diversity, equity and inclusion programme, meaning our community activity and internal DEI commitments are not separate efforts.

Underpinning our broader Corporate Sustainability strategy, Man Group supports the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for our broader Corporate Sustainability approach, helping us deliver a responsible business and measure our impact in a meaningful way. Our partnership with ELBA has also allowed us to contribute broadly to the east London community through the variety of team challenges available including maintaining vital community spaces and supported initiatives addressing cost of living challenges (including seasonal drives such as Christmas toy collections). These activities sit naturally alongside our wider ManKind volunteering programme and reflect our genuine commitment to giving back to the communities closest to us.

Which topics, themes or initiatives is your organisation currently focused on?
One of our key initiatives is widening the pipeline of talent entering the financial services industry through Paving the Way, our dedicated, firm-wide initiative designed to do exactly that. Through partnerships with schools, universities, charities and external associations, including our valued partnership with the ELBA which began in 2021, we engage directly with students online or through visiting their schools, or inviting them to experience Man Group first-hand, and open their eyes to the breadth of careers available in finance.

ELBA has been a particularly important enabler of this work. Through the opportunities the team has created, we have hosted insight days and workshops for local schools with diverse student populations, planting the seed of what a career in finance could look like and encouraging the next generation to consider roles in the industry, whether through relevant university degrees or alternative early career pathways such as apprenticeships. Our volunteers, who act as role models drawn from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines across Man Group aim to show students that with determination, a commitment to building skills and a passion for what they do, the industry is genuinely open to everyone. At the heart of this is the simple but powerful message that a successful career should not be dependent on your background or circumstance.

What is the best part of your job?
Definitely having the opportunity to meet lots of interesting people, then being able to work with them going forward and develop meaningful relationships.