Overview

Private equity and venture capital lag other industries in diversity statistics

WinPE is a pioneering, not for profit platform to bring about transformation in the investing world in favour of gender diversity.

WinPE aspires to be the forum where stakeholders come together to set the diversity agenda and lead collective action to create gender balance in the investing ecosystem. WinPE is committed to catalysing action in increasing participation of women as investors, capital allocators and as recipients of investment capital, through a well-rounded and holistic approach that engages key stakeholders of the investing industry.

Although women make up roughly half of the available talent pool, they continue to be significantly underrepresented among the investment decision-makers at private equity and venture capital (PEVC) firms, as well as in the leadership of companies that receive this investment capital. Gender balance in investors is a powerful agent for driving diversity in boardrooms, in the c-suite, within the workplace and within business linkages. Gender and diversity is a top-down agenda and the dialogue has to start at the very top of the capital structure, where corporate ownership resides and where all key decisions originate.

Gender diversity within the investing ecosystem is within the influence of each constituent of this ecosystem and the change that WinPE aims to catalyse is best led by these constituents.

The WinPE Vision

WinPE believes change can only be witnessed when we combine dialogue with action. Based on this philosophy, WinPE engages with the leaders and influencers to drive culture change, while providing a suite of powerful resources to support women who are part of this industry or who aspire to be.

#Engage

Engage with firms within the investing ecosystem and their decision makers in a constructive and open dialogue on the opportunities of gender diversity with an intent to drive collective action on a mutual agenda.

#Empower

Empower the women who are part of the investing industry with a set of training, networking and mentoring resources designed to help them thrive and succeed.

#Enhance

Enhance the participation of female talent in the investing ecosystem, foster an environment and working practices make it an attractive career option for women.

WinPE Partner Manifesto

WinPE mission partners have collectively identified the following priorities for their joint action towards enhancing gender diversity within the investing ecosystem:

WinPE partners will step up efforts for diversity in hiring by pushing for a diverse talent pipeline and incorporating a blind screening process (including redacted CVs removing names and other indications of gender, case studies). The diversity targets for inward talent pipeline will be set on a confidential basis to maintain merit and credibility in hiring.
WinPE and its partners will support mid career women professionals from the industry through a structured mentorship program to be run by WinPE.
WinPE partners will introduce a conversation on diversity within their firms and portfolio companies, enhancing awareness and sensitization within the ecosystem.
WinPE partners will seek for their portfolio companies to measure appropriate diversity metrics and report annually.
WinPE partners will ask for commitment and measurement on Equal Pay at KMP level in portfolio companies.
WinPE partners will support outreach at campuses that are hiring grounds for the industry to champion awareness among female candidates.

Initiatives

WINPE has developed six flagship programs in multiple formats for enabling conversation between different constituents of the PE industry for exchange of ideas, networking and knowledge sharing on diversity.

WinPE-Collegium

Brings together industry leaders in closed door sessions to discuss all matters diversity with a view to setting the priorities and the path forward. Collegium discussions are intended to be non-attributable to individuals, facilitating an open and honest dialogue.

WinPE – Parleys

Series of curated public events to engage the ecosystem at large and drive broader awareness and sensitization. WinPE expects to have 6-8 Parleys in a year across business and casual settings.

WinPE- ProClub

A mentorship program to connect future women leaders with eminent mentors and established senior leaders through quality dialogue, mentoring and capacity building. Opportunities to receive mentorship will be available both through a structured one-on-one mentoring program as well as in group sessions (networking sessions) that facilitate open dialogues with senior industry leaders.

WinPE-Shine

An executive coaching program that will offer women professionals training and guidance on areas like public speaking, personal brand building, effective communication, conflict management and resolution, to help them deal with challenges and in achieving their career goals. Shine will be delivered by firms specializing in executive coaching and is expected to be delivered face-to-face.

WinPE-Edge

A knowledge series to provide support to female professionals through interactive knowledge sharing sessions that would be offered in a combination of offline and online formats. Technical sessions such as those on tax, due diligence, modelling and structuring, compliance/legal, would provide a valuable platform to train, upskill and enable women professionals.

WinPE-Ignite

WinPE Ignite aims to nurture young female talent for the industry. It will include efforts to build a female talent pipeline through campus outreach programs, networking events for young women from adjacent industries and networking events for women within the PEVC industry.