Rachel Lord, Senior Managing Director, is head of Europe, Middle East and Africa for BlackRock and a member of the Global Executive Committee. Prior to assuming her current role in September 2017, she was EMEA Head of iShares and Head of Global Clients, ETF and Index Investments. During the time in her former role, Rachel was Global Inclusion & Diversity lead for iShares and achieved 100% diverse slates in recruitment at all levels since 2014. She also championed global minimum maternity policies. As a result, there is 50% gender diversity at analyst and associate levels in iShares. Rachel is a member of the Women’s Initiative Network advisory council, and has been Global Executive Sponsor since early 2017. She leads on International Women’s Day European client and internal events, is a powerful advocate and role model for women leading major businesses at BlackRock. Rachel regularly mentors women, both internally and externally, and is often asked to attend and speak at events for senior women in business. She is a speaker at industry-wide recruiting and educational events for women at university, and girls at school, and actively engages with other women’s networks at major financial firms in Europe to encourage cross-firm collaboration.