With the turn of the IFoA’s sessional year – and a new president and Council installed – comes the opportunity to take a fresh look at our future. Much has changed since the onset of COVID-19, but one thing is certain: we won’t see the pre-2019 world again, and the only way is forward.
Shortly after being offered the opportunity to join the IFoA as CEO, I made it a priority to pore over the results of the all-member survey that had just landed. Some of the feedback was truly heartening: it was inspiring to see how excited our student population is about the professional journey ahead of them. The commitment of our volunteers, as ever, shone through. And given the importance that the IFoA places on diversity, equity and inclusion, it was encouraging to see how members from around the world come to us – and stay with us – because they believe the IFoA is a place where they can
One of the things I value about being the CEO of the IFoA is the clarity of accountability to our membership. It provides a clear line of sight for the things we do, what the organisation aims to achieve, and what I expect to be judged against.
Climate change is in the consciousness of most organisations globally, and is an increasingly important factor in business decision-making; in some areas, it is a responsibility and a duty.
When we launched the IFoA’s new five-year strategy, we knew our success would hinge on ensuring that our members were at the forefront of all that we do, and that our culture (‘the way we do things’) had this as second nature.
In many ways, it seems much longer than the 10 or so months that have passed since we started writing up the IFoA’s new five-year strategy, which we launched earlier this year.
In 2016, under the leadership of the then immediate past president Nick Salter, the IFoA published a four-year diversity strategy: a thoughtful and informed plan to promote recognition, understanding and respect of our members’, volunteers’ and colleagues’ individual differences.
I have spent the past few weeks reflecting on my first six months at the IFoA, in part prompted by the presidential cycle, and in part as I have now spent more time leading the IFoA from home than I have in the office!
