“Accelerating 50/50 is not an ambition for the future – it’s a call to action for now.” With those words, Chantal Korteweg and Indra Frishert, respectively President and Vice-President of WIFS, opened the event that brought together over a hundred professionals from the financial sector at the recently renovated headquarters of De Nederlandsche Bank on Monday, May 12. The goal: to accelerate the journey toward a truly inclusive sector. The time for talking is over. Now is the time to act.
DNB board member and member of the WIFS Advisory Board, Cindy van Oorschot, opened the event looking back on her career, among other things: “Twenty years ago, it was normal for me to be the only woman at the table.” Today, she is actively committed to paving the way for others - from coaching to contributing to inclusive policymaking. “You have to give something back when you've arrived yourself."
L-R: Indra Frishert, Cindy van Oorschot, Chantal Korteweg | ©LOPKE FOTOGRAFIE
AI, bias and the role of women
Keynote speaker Noëlle Cicilia, co-founder of Brush AI and recently voted AI Person of the Year 2025, took the audience through an impressive story about AI, bias and responsibility. “AI is powered by the Internet, and there's a lot of junk on there,” she said. “Anyone who claims AI doesn't have bias doesn't understand how it works.”
She made the argument for Responsible AI by design: "Fixing it after the fact is simply much more expensive. It has to be right from the start." Noëlle spoke with urgency as well as hope. Because although women are still heavily underrepresented in AI, they are taking the lead in the ethical movement. “The financial sector can play a key role here,” she argued. “Female founders in AI barely get funding now. That has to change. You can make a difference by deliberately creating that space.”
Noëlle Cicilia | ©LOPKE FOTOGRAFIE
From data to dialogue
Ivy Koopmans and Babette Pouwels presented the facts on behalf of the SER: there is progress, but we are far from there. Certainly at the top, growth is stagnating. A sharp observation: “If we want to grow, we must structurally have more women joining than leaving. And that is not happening now.”
Babette Pouwels | ©LOPKE FOTOGRAFIE
Those figures were the prelude to an honest panel discussion with Choy-Lin van der Hooft-Cheong (ABN AMRO), Liam Tjong-A-Tjoe (Egon Zehnder), Eszter Vitorino Fuleky (Van Lanschot Kempen) and Nazha Rustom (DNB). Led by Chantal Korteweg, they talked about the tension between ambition and reality: at the organizational level and in personal leadership.
L-R: Chantal Korteweg, Nazha Rustom, Choy-Lin van der Hooft-Cheong, Eszter Vitorino Fuleky, Liam Tjong-A-Tjoe | ©LOPKE FOTOGRAFIE
Choy-Lin brought an interesting observation: “We have the ambition but not always the vacancies to live up to it. Do we then lower the bar? Or do we find other ways to get there anyway?” She also pointed out the personal aspect of career advancement in the sector: “The road to the top is competitive, the pyramid is getting narrower. As part of this, you have to learn to deal with disappointments; you can't always get the job. Also men encounter challenges in this regard.”
L-R: Nazha Rustom, Choy-Lin van der Hooft-Cheong, Eszter Vitorino Fuleky | ©LOPKE FOTOGRAFIE
Other panelists also joined in on this point, with Liam emphasizing the importance of perspective:
“Stop thinking in terms of male or female. Think as a professional: what do you have to offer?”
An honest, but mostly hopeful dialogue. The conclusion? Only with decisiveness, ownership and open discussions will we really move forward towards 50/50.
L-R: Eszter Vitorino Fuleky, Liam Tjong-A-Tjoe | ©LOPKE FOTOGRAFIE
The closing keynote was delivered by Gülay Keser and Florine Wijmans (DNB), who spoke about countering discrimination in the implementation of anti-money laundering legislation.
L-R: Gülay Keser, Florine Wijmans | ©LOPKE FOTOGRAFIE
Launching nomination period Top 50 Women in Sustainable Finance
A special moment during the event: Cindy van Oorschot gave the official go-ahead for the nomination period of the Top 50 Women in Sustainable Finance 2025. This fifth edition puts female leaders in sustainability in the spotlight. This year the jury consists of: Marguerite Soeteman-Reijnen (chair), Cindy van Oorschot, Nicolette Loonen, Faisal Setoe, Stephan Veen, Jellie Banga, Lars Dijkstra and Maarten Edixhoven.
Nomineren voor de Top 50 kan tot en met 9 juni 2025. Op 30 september 2025 wordt de vijfde editie van de lijst gelanceerd bij a.s.r. in Utrecht.
L-R: Cindy van Oorschot, Maarten Edixhoven, Indra Frishert | ©LOPKE FOTOGRAFIE
An afternoon full of energy, sharp insights and real conversations. Scroll down for an impression of the event.
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