AFA Inspire initiative reaches milestone

Inspire’s LinkedIn group facilitates the discussion and connectedness that the initiative aims to achieve, Inspire chair Deborah Kent told ifa.

“LinkedIn gives women a forum to start some discussion pieces and, in turn, we can find out what the females in our industry are looking for,” said Kent, who is also a director and financial planner at Integra Financial Services.

“We’re monitoring the comments and they’re helping us structure the program as well; we want to keep the conversation going,” she added.

Brad Fox, AFA’s chief executive officer, told ifa that having over 200 people join the LinkedIn group is a “testament” to the connections women are seeking in financial services.

“This ability to share information and solutions to challenges, especially using social media as part of the Inspire initiative, provides a tangible sense of belonging to a community,” he said.

Kent believes the LinkedIn group will continue to grow and become a “pivotal” part of Inspire, because it “allows for that open conversation women are asking for”.

She also said the LinkedIn group “took off” straight away, with more than 100 members joining in approximately one and a half days.

Inspire aims to connect and support females from across the financial advice industry, by offering career development support, networking, coaching, mentoring and leadership initiatives.