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Since joining HSBC in 2016, Kirsty has spearheaded a number of initiatives to advance gender equality across the bank’s international network. Within Operations, a function employing more than 40,000 colleagues in 59 countries, Kirsty has increased the proportion of women in leadership roles to one in three. She has doubled the maternity leave entitlement from 12-24 weeks for colleagues in India and Sri Lanka. This year, a new internship programme to bring undergraduates into HSBC’s Global Service Centres (GSC) had a 100% female intake. The GSC in Kolkata has been awarded the NASCOMM ‘Highest Percentage of Female Employees in IT/ITES’ award three times. In March, Kirsty led the introduction of HSBC’s ‘Take Two’ programme to bring women back into the workplace in India – with the aim of hiring 30 women into management positions each quarter. Kirsty also invests a lot of personal time into championing women in business. She was part of the team that established the City Women’s Club in 2004, which recently merged into the London Women’s Forum (LWF). She also mentors and sponsors a number of aspiring female leaders in other organisations, helping to coach them through their work and life challenges.