In most of the Christian world today is the Feast of the Epiphany, the day when the three wise men are said to have arrived at the stable in Bethlehem to visit the baby Jesus. But here in Ireland, it’s a day for getting your decorations down and has long been recognised as a day for celebrating the contribution of Irish women to society.  There have been many of those.

My favourites?

• Alice Stopford Green (1847-1929) historian, nationalist, senator in Irish Free State Senate
• Constance Markievicz served over a year in jail for taking part in the Rising. She was Minister for Labour from 1919 to 1922, before leaving government in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
• Kathleen Lonsdale played a fundamental role in establishing the science of crystallograph
• Ellen Hutchins, born in 1785 in Ballylickey, Co Cork, was Ireland’s first female botanist
• Sonia O’Sullivan- athlete extradonaire
• Mary Robinson- She is widely regarded as a transformative figure for Ireland, and for the Irish presidency, revitalising and liberalising a previously conservative, low-profile political office. She resigned the presidency two months ahead of the end of her term of office to take up her post in the United Nations.

However in our area of business, financial technology it’s a little harder to find the female leaders. According to a report issued late last year, less than 5 % of of Top Executive roles in Europe’s top Fintech firms are held by women.  This figure worsens when you broaden the pool to include America.

To improve the situation, numerous networking and mentor-ship programmes have been set up to support women in fintech and there are efforts to attract larger numbers to entrepreneurship too.

We need to encourage from the ground up and lead by example.  In our own business we actively encourage not only gender equality in all aspects of the business but equality in all areas. Along side being ethical in business.  What does that mean? It doesn’t matter what gender, race, colour, or food you like you have equal opportunities with Pimbook.