The DEI Download: How Inclusive Hiring Powers FinTech Growth

If you believe inclusive teams build better products, you’re already ahead. But belief isn’t enough. In today’s competitive FinTech landscape, it takes intentional hiring, inclusive leadership, and a culture built on fairness to create lasting success.

That was the message from our Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer, Nadia Edwards-Dashti, when she joined Alexander Mark Deakin-McKay on the Beyond Breakeven podcast. The episode, titled “The DEI Download: On a Mission for Equity, Inclusivity, Diversity”, explored Nadia’s personal journey, her mission for equity in FinTech, and the vital role inclusive hiring plays in business growth.

At Harrington Starr, we believe recruitment isn’t just about filling vacancies; it’s about shaping the future of financial technology. This podcast gave us the perfect platform to share why inclusion has always been at the heart of our business, and why clients who embrace it see stronger results.

Nadia’s Journey: From “the only one in the room” to industry voice

When Nadia entered the world of technology recruitment in financial services in the early 2000s, she was often the only woman in the room. Walking into meetings, riding the escalators at Bank station, she noticed the absence of people who looked like her.

That experience sparked a mission. Inclusion couldn’t stop at attraction; it had to extend into retention, promotion, and leadership. Too many women and underrepresented professionals left the industry, not because they lacked ability, but because they lacked fair opportunities.

 Those insights shaped Nadia’s career and the culture of Harrington Starr. They also inspired initiatives such as:

• FinTech's DEI Discussions Podcast, amplifying voices across financial technology.
• FinTech Women Walk the Talk, Nadia’s book featuring over 100 industry interviews.
• The Talent Equity List, a live register giving companies access to female technologists actively looking for work.
•  Partnerships with organisations like the European Women’s Payment Network.

This isn’t abstract advocacy. It’s a direct response to lived experience, client demand, and the thousands of conversations we’ve had as a FinTech recruiter.

Building Harrington Starr: Recruitment with a mission

When Nadia Co-Founded Harrington Starr with our CEO, Toby Babb, in 2010, recruitment looked very different.

Most agencies focused on the short-term: filling jobs, replacing staff, pushing CVs. But Nadia and Toby wanted more. They built a business on three foundations:

Fairness – recruitment should give every candidate a level playing field.

Value – clients deserve insight and long-term support, not just placements.

Community – creating spaces where professionals can learn, connect, and thrive.

Fast forward to today, and those foundations have grown into a global business. With offices in London, Belfast, and New York, Harrington Starr recruits across FinTech specialisms including:

Quantitative Finance – from junior quants to senior portfolio managers.

Data and AI – data engineers, machine learning specialists, data scientists, and heads of data.

Software Engineering – developers, architects, DevOps and infrastructure professionals.

Sales and Marketing – commercial leaders driving FinTech growth.

Cyber Security and IT Risk – safeguarding financial markets with top-tier talent.

Evidence, not assumptions: why inclusion works

One of Nadia’s strongest points on this episode of Beyond Breakeven was that inclusion cannot rest on opinion. It has to be proven.

Through her 20 years in recruitment, Nadia has seen patterns others miss:

• Candidates rejected unfairly, often due to unconscious bias.
• Professionals leaving roles because promotions favoured “people who looked like the boss.”
• Companies missing out on talent because they relied only on traditional application processes.

By collecting evidence from thousands of conversations and thousands of data points, Nadia turned anecdote into fact. And the fact is clear: inclusive hiring drives better retention, innovation, and performance.

At Harrington Starr, we bring that evidence to our clients. When we deliver gender-balanced shortlists or highlight overlooked candidate pools, it’s not just to meet targets, it’s to deliver better business outcomes.

Inclusive hiring in FinTech is a growth strategy

A powerful part of the podcast conversation focused on whether inclusion had directly contributed to Harrington Starr’s growth.

The answer: absolutely.

Clients choose Harrington Starr because we combine specialist FinTech recruitment expertise with a clear mission. We don’t separate “recruitment” and “inclusion.” For us, they are the same thing. Every search is conducted fairly, every shortlist is balanced, every conversation is rooted in helping both businesses and people thrive.

And this approach pays off. Clients who embrace inclusive hiring don’t just fill roles faster, they build stronger, more innovative teams, and avoid the costly turnover that comes from neglecting culture.

For FinTech businesses under pressure to attract data specialists, quant analysts, cyber security leaders, and sales talent, inclusive hiring isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a competitive advantage.

Practical lessons for FinTech leaders

So what should FinTech leaders take from Nadia’s conversation on Beyond Breakeven? Several key lessons stand out:

1. Listening means action

Listening to your people isn’t about a one-off survey. It’s about creating safe spaces, following up, and showing staff their feedback leads to real change.

2. Celebrate progress, not just problems

Retention improves when companies highlight what’s going well. Share stories, celebrate role models, and show employees the culture is moving forward.

3. Rethink applications

The traditional CV-and-job-description model is outdated. Companies should think in terms of motivations, transferable skills, and potential—not just whether someone has “done the exact job before.”

4. Make inclusion everyone’s job

Hiring a DEI lead is not enough. Every manager, every leader, and every recruiter must own their part in building an inclusive culture.

5. Encourage positive debate

Consensus feels safe, but it hides blind spots. Invite disagreement, listen to perspectives, and learn from difference.

For our clients, we translate these lessons into practice by helping them design inclusive hiring processes, crafting balanced shortlists, and advising on retention strategies.

Why FinTech clients must care

For FinTech businesses, inclusion is not only a moral responsibility, it’s a commercial one.

Your customers are diverse. Your teams must reflect that reality to design products that resonate globally.

Retention saves money. Hiring is expensive; losing talent because of poor culture is even more so.

Reputation matters. In a transparent world of Glassdoor reviews and LinkedIn commentary, employer brand is everything.

Talent is scarce. Whether you’re hiring a data scientist in New York, a quant analyst in London, or a cyber security specialist in Belfast, you need to broaden the pool, not narrow it.

By working with a recruiter that understands this, you don’t just fill roles, you future-proof your business.

Harrington Starr: More than a FinTech recruitment agency

Nadia’s appearance on Beyond Breakeven is part of a wider story. For 15 years, Harrington Starr has been:

A FinTech recruiter that delivers excellence across technology, data, quant, and more.

A FinTech marketing recruitment agency, helping businesses find the storytellers and growth leaders who elevate their brands.

A data staffing agency, sourcing specialists who unlock the power of analytics and AI.

A quant finance recruiter, trusted by hedge funds and trading firms to find exceptional quantitative talent.

But beyond placements, we’ve been advocates for change, through podcasts, reports, awards, and initiatives that elevate the industry.

Inclusion is recruitment

As Nadia reminded listeners on Beyond Breakeven, recruitment and inclusion should never be separated. They are one and the same.

For FinTech clients, the message is clear: inclusive hiring is not an HR initiative. It is a growth strategy. By embedding fairness, listening to your people, and broadening your talent approach, you create teams that innovate, lead, and succeed.

At Harrington Starr, we’re proud to lead this mission. Whether you’re building a quant team in New York, hiring data specialists in London, or growing your FinTech sales and marketing function in Belfast, we’re here as your partner in both recruitment and inclusion.

Because the future of FinTech belongs to the businesses that hire fairly, retain talent, and build cultures where everyone can thrive.

At Harrington Starr, we know that inclusive hiring is more than a buzzword—it’s the foundation of sustainable business growth. For over 15 years, we’ve partnered with clients across the global FinTech sector to build high-performing teams by connecting them with exceptional talent across every corner of the industry. From quantitative finance, data, software engineering, and cyber security, through to infrastructure, DevOps, IT risk, product management, sales, and marketing, our expertise covers the full talent ecosystem that drives financial technology forward.

Our role goes far beyond recruitment. We collaborate with leadership teams to design fair and transparent hiring processes, deliver gender-balanced shortlists, and open doors to talent pools that many businesses overlook. This approach not only helps you attract the best professionals in London, New York, Belfast, and across global markets, but it also ensures they stay, thrive, and drive your business forward.

We’ve seen first-hand how inclusion boosts innovation, strengthens culture, and reduces costly turnover. That’s why clients trust us as their long-term FinTech recruiter of choice. If your business is passionate about building inclusive teams that reflect the customers you serve, we’d love to work with you. Get in touch with Harrington Starr today and discover how our expertise can help you hire for the future: diverse, resilient, and ready to grow.