Knowledge Networks
Knowledge sharing forums for like-minded professionals
Women Supporting Women in Private Equity
Discussion Leaders
- Blinn Cirella, CFO at Saw Mill Capital LLC
- Anastasia Kowal, CFO & CCO at Heartwood Partners
Summary
Private equity has historically been a male-dominated industry. Despite significant strides made by women in other industries, only 9.9% of senior roles at private equity firms are occupied by women (2020 Preqin survey). Further studies have suggested that women are more than twice as likely to consider leaving the industry then men. Private equity is hard enough – and women in private equity clearly face an uphill battle.
This session was a roundtable discussion amongst female financial executives in the private equity industry. The discussion was led by two accomplished CFOs from leading private equity firms, Blinn Cirella and Anastasia Kowal. Questions and items they addressed included:
- Current work life balance / is your team appropriately staffed?
- Pushing back when plate is full / were you successful?
- Delegation skills / do you keep too much to yourself?
- What keeps you up at night?
Financial executives in attendance benefited from a healthy exchange of thoughts and ideas in a highly-confidential setting. Further, they met like-minded peers from the industry and strengthen their professional networks in the process.
