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To continue putting local talent on the global stage, FinTrU is expanding its award-winning Financial Services Academy to the North West.
Join Northern Ireland's 'Best Place to Work 2018' at its newly established
North West Centre of Excellence in Derry/Londonderry.
To continue putting local talent on the global stage, FinTrU is expanding its award-winning Financial Services Academy to the North West.
Join Northern Ireland's 'Best Place to Work 2018' at its newly established
North West Centre of Excellence in Derry/Londonderry.
DARRAGH MCCARTHY
FOUNDER & CEO
Darragh McCarthy is the CEO and Founder of FinTrU. He started his career at Morgan Stanley in 1994 and remained there until late 2012. During his time at Morgan Stanley, Darragh was based in London, Frankfurt and New York and held various responsibilities including Global COO for Institutional Securities, COO for EMEA, Head of Fixed Income Sales North America and Head of Fixed Income Sales EMEA.
In 2013 Darragh founded FinTrU recognising the increasing demand from Global Investment Banks for high-quality resources to navigate the ever-increasing regulatory landscape. Whilst managed as a profit-driven organisation, Darragh also considers FinTrU as having a social purpose to create high-quality professional employment on the island of Ireland.
Darragh has a First Class Honours BComm International from University College of Dublin, Ireland. He has been nominated for EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018. Darragh speaks fluent German and Dutch.
DARRAGH MCCARTHY
FOUNDER & CEO
Darragh McCarthy is the CEO and Founder of FinTrU. He started his career at Morgan Stanley in 1994 and remained there until late 2012. During his time at Morgan Stanley, Darragh was based in London, Frankfurt and New York and held various responsibilities including Global COO for Institutional Securities, COO for EMEA, Head of Fixed Income Sales North America and Head of Fixed Income Sales EMEA.
In 2013 Darragh founded FinTrU recognising the increasing demand from Global Investment Banks for high-quality resources to navigate the ever-increasing regulatory landscape. Whilst managed as a profit-driven organisation, Darragh also considers FinTrU as having a social purpose to create high-quality professional employment on the island of Ireland.
Darragh has a First Class Honours BComm International from University College of Dublin, Ireland. He has been nominated for EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018. Darragh speaks fluent German and Dutch.
Pride – Simply part of CSR or something bigger?
Author
Published
Monday 30 July 2018
Pride
Year on year Pride events gain increasing momentum resulting in becoming a bigger and more prominent part of the community and in many cases, one of the largest annual events in the public calendar. This is in stark contrast to as little as 20 years ago when it was still shunned and frowned upon.
A key element as to why this is no longer the case has a lot to do with awareness and understanding. People have been canvasing and marching for years for this exact purpose, to help people realise that everyone is equal and that everyone deserves to be treated the same regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation.
Some questions have arisen over time because of this, a prominent one being ‘why is there gay pride but no ‘straight pride’?’ The answer is simple, there is no straight pride because straight people have not been ridiculed, shunned and de-classed because of who they love in the same manner as LGBTQ+ people. They aren’t belittled and considered ‘less than’ for possessing what is essentially a simple but powerful human emotion.
From a professional business perspective, it is important that companies represent the workforce they employ and by extension support them as best they can. Whether this is by marching in Pride with them, setting up an LGBTQ+ based committee or becoming involved with local LGBTQ+ support organisations. The smallest gesture can really make the biggest difference. People should feel naturally comfortable and relaxed in their workplace without fear of discrimination or judgement about who they are.
According to Stonewall UK statistics, more than a third of LGBTQ+ people (35%) in the workplace continue to hide that they are LGBTQ+ over fear they will be discriminated against. Shockingly 1/10 Asian and minority ethnic LGBT employees (10 per cent) have been physically attacked by customers or colleagues in the last year in what is supposed to be considered a ‘professional environment’. This alone should be enough to highlight the importance of equality in the workplace. (1)
Stonewall UK suggests “On the basis of this report, Stonewall is calling for employers to develop zero-tolerance policies on homophobic, biphobic and transphobic discrimination and harassment, alongside communicating clear routes to report anti-LGBT bullying.” (1)
From an international perspective it gets worse, A quarter of the world’s population believes that being LGBT should be a crime (2) and 72 countries criminalise same-sex relationships (and in 45 the law is applied to women as well as men). (2) I feel this is unacceptable in the 21st century and it should be addressed. There are facts and figures beyond these that illustrate the level that this issue has got to.
One of the best ways to change perception and to push things forward is to have the backing of not only the people but of local and international businesses. This sends a clear message of support to the colleagues, local governments and authorities that they support equality for all. I feel if this isn’t accepted that companies will have the ability to take their business elsewhere where their employees can prosper and progress free from discrimination, which would ultimately impact the economy which is not something that governments and authorities would want.
As founder of our LGBTQ+ based committee, TrU Colours, I fundamentally believe that everyone is equal and that nobody should be judged on their sexual orientation, gender or ethnicity. A workplace where people feel comfortable and confident in themselves leads to excellent staff morale and better productivity. FinTrU operates a no tolerance policy on homophobic, biphobic and transphobic discrimination and harassment. I’m also proud to say we support the Love Equality – Marriage Equality Campaign for Northern Ireland.
I feel extremely lucky to work within a company like FinTrU as the issues and statistics highlighted throughout this article are not the case for us. Our core values are People, Passion, Partnership and Professionalism and they all have something at the heart of them, Pride. We’re recognised as the ‘Best Place to Work’ in Belfast partly because of this and because we look for people with the right attitude and aptitude. We’re extremely happy to be attending Pride for the 2nd year running and have ran multiple events including a pride breakfast and information morning. The goal of this is to better inform staff on what it means to be LGBTQ+ in the workplace and to ensure the company remains the inclusive, forward thinking environment it has always been. We’re set to hold various other LGBTQ+ themed events throughout the year as well because we support our colleagues 100% of the time, not just when it’s easy for us to do so.
#JustBeYOU
References:
(2)https://www.stonewall.org.uk/media/lgbt-facts-and-figures
(3)http://outandequal.org/2017-workplace-equality-fact-sheet/
Robert Cleland joined FinTrU in 2017, as Graphic & Web Designer with over five years experience including senior design positions and high profile freelance work.
Robert is a specialist in commercial corporate branding, typography and specialised print techniques. He also holds nearly two years experience in the Financial Services industry as a Fraud Officer for one of the UK's largest commercial banks - Lloyds Banking Group.
Robert is also Founder and Chair of the TrU Colours Committee. The committee focuses on LGBTQ+ events and initiatives including Company wide organisation and co-ordination of large scale events such as the companies participation in the Belfast Pride Parade.
Robert Cleland
Graphic & Web Designer
