Nigerian, Kemi Adetu tops HERoes list of Women Future Leaders

A Nigerian, also an associate and client manager at Standard Chartered in New York, Kemi Adetu, has topped the list in this year’s HERoes Top 50 Women Future Leaders.

The Diversity and Inclusion Network, INvolve, supported by Yahoo Finance who released this list said, it aimed at celebrating inspirational women, who are not yet senior leaders in an organisation, but are making a significant contribution to gender diversity at work. 

Kemi Adetu who came first in the list was selected based on influence of role at workplace, impact on other women inside and outside the workplace, and business achievements.

Adetu, also a British brought up, joined Standard Chartered in 2016, and became a member of the Bank’s Gender Engagement Network, a key employee resource group focused on gender issues.

As a representative of the international graduate population, she has since played a critical role in discussions with decision-makers and key stakeholders internally, on improving gender balance in Standard Chartered’s internship and graduate programs, which have since gone from having just 20% women to around 45%.

Adetu was recently invited to join the Diversity & Inclusion Council for Standard Chartered, Americas to proactively contribute to projects, initiatives and conversations, that would create a more inclusive and diverse working environment for all colleagues.

In collaboration with other council members, Kemi designs, implements and executes local programmes to help women connect, learn and grow; including: formal and informal mentoring; networking opportunities; panel discussions; training workshops; and round table forum sessions.

Externally, Kemi launched two initiatives last year, GLOW UP and Fempire Professional Network.

GLOW UP works to empower female orphans and provide children in Africa and the United States with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to be economic leaders in their communities.

While, Fempire Professional Network is an international community of female professionals of colour across several professions and sectors, creating a support system and providing a platform of opportunity.

According to Kemi in an interview with Yahoo Finance UK, “I think I’m more sensitive and compassionate towards people who look or sound different to me, because of my background.”

Though Adetu is not one to miss out on a chance to create opportunities for others, she also recognises when she has to help herself find her way.

(Yahoo Finance UK)