Why Community Matters in Financial Technology

The latest episode of FinTech’s DEI Discussions, hosted by Nadia, features a thought-provoking and deeply practical conversation with Anya van den Berg, Global Head of Sales – Analytics at Deutsche Börse. This episode highlights why conversations about inclusion in the financial technology sector must go further than awareness alone and evolve into meaningful action.

At Harrington Starr, as a FinTech recruitment business, we understand that inclusion and diversity directly impact the ability of companies to attract, retain, and empower top talent. The dialogue between Nadia and Anya reinforces this by showing that building inclusive cultures is just as important as sourcing skilled candidates.

Anya van den Berg’s Journey Through Financial Technology

Nadia opens the episode by introducing Anya and asking her to share her background. Anya explains that she works within Deutsche Börse’s Market Data and Services division, which functions as a data layer of the group. This division aggregates, commercialises, and distributes proprietary data captured from exchange networks across Europe, including the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Eurex, one of Europe’s leading derivatives venues.

As Global Head of Sales – Analytics, Anya leads a team that produces unique data sets in collaboration with exchanges. These datasets provide transparency and market sentiment to help customers on both the buy side and sell side optimise their trading strategies.

Her career has spanned over 17 years in financial data and analytics, including time at IHS Markit (now S&P Global) and Thomson Reuters. She has also worked internationally, spending time in both Hong Kong and London, before reaching her current global role.

Crucially, Anya is open about the hard work required to get here. She stresses that her career was not the result of luck or shortcuts, it was the outcome of long nights, consistent effort, and resilience. This honesty resonates strongly with the FinTech recruitment market, where younger professionals often seek role models who have built careers through perseverance.

From Passion to Action: Why Inclusion Must Go Further

A central theme in the conversation is the distinction between being passionate about inclusion and being active in creating change. Anya explains that too often, inclusion in FinTech can take the form of surface-level activity. Joining a women’s network or attending external forums might appear to show commitment, but in many cases, these actions do not tackle the structural challenges that hinder women’s progression in financial technology.

When she was not yet in a leadership position five years ago, Anya wanted to do something practical to make a difference. Recognising she did not yet have the authority to make hiring decisions or alter recruitment processes, she chose to start mentoring junior women in the industry. This was her way of moving beyond talk and taking action that could make a direct impact.

Her reflections are highly relevant for the FinTech industry as a whole: if organisations want to improve recruitment outcomes and retention, they must go beyond symbolic gestures. Real inclusion means actively addressing the barriers employees face at every stage of their careers.

Mentorship in FinTech: Changing Careers and Building Confidence

Mentorship quickly became one of the most rewarding aspects of Anya’s professional life. She describes how her mentees often faced the same challenges she experienced early in her career, challenges such as bias, isolation, and a lack of support. By offering them guidance, she was able to provide reassurance that those experiences were not normal and that they deserved better.

Being that sounding board, Anya says, was incredibly fulfilling. It allowed her mentees to navigate difficulties with more confidence, while also giving her the chance to contribute positively to the industry. Importantly, she highlights that mentorship benefits mentors as well. Through mentoring, she has built long-term friendships, learned new perspectives, and developed connections with senior women in industry networks.

In some cases, her mentorship extended beyond official programmes. Even after six- or twelve-month schemes ended, she continued to meet regularly with her mentees, offering ongoing advice and encouragement.

One particularly inspiring example came when a mentee she had encouraged to self-nominate for an award went on to win the Rising Star Award at the Waters Technology Women in Tech and Data Awards 2024. At the same event, Anya herself received the award for Exchange Professional of the Year, creating a moment where mentor and mentee could celebrate their achievements together.

For FinTech recruitment, these stories are significant. They show that mentorship helps talented professionals overcome barriers, progress in their careers, and remain within the industry, vital outcomes in a competitive market where retaining diverse talent is just as important as attracting it.

The Role of Community and Tribe in FinTech Careers

 Another area that Anya and Nadia explore is the power of community. Anya speaks about the importance of having a “tribe”, a group of peers, mentors, or colleagues with whom you can share challenges and seek advice.

Earlier in her career, she lacked this support and often felt alone when facing difficulties. Today, she ensures that her mentees and colleagues have access to such networks. Having a community means having people to ask, “Is this normal? How would you approach this situation?” For those working in fast-paced and often high-pressure FinTech environments, this can make a crucial difference.

This idea of tribe and community is central to retention in FinTech recruitment. It is not enough for firms to bring in diverse talent; they must create structures of support that help employees feel connected and confident. By fostering networks and communities, organisations can improve engagement and reduce attrition.

Inclusion at Deutsche Börse: A Positive Example

Deutsche Börse itself is an example of how inclusion can work in practice. Anya notes that within the Market Data and Services division, there are sixteen women in sales roles, an unusually high proportion for financial services. Even more significantly, the leadership structure is also gender balanced. The global head of sales is a woman, and Anya, along with two other female leaders, manage the global teams beneath her.

This leadership structure demonstrates that inclusivity is not only possible in FinTech but can also thrive in areas traditionally dominated by men. Anya credits this success to a culture that goes beyond hiring numbers and focuses on creating an environment where employees feel respected and valued.

She outlines several key actions that FinTech and financial services organisations can adopt to improve inclusion:

• Developing clear and accessible equality, diversity, and inclusion policies.
• Using blind hiring processes and diverse interview panels to reduce bias.
• Conducting regular salary reviews to ensure pay equity.
• Offering inclusive benefits such as flexible working, parental leave, and caregiver support.
• Ensuring equal access to training, mentorship, and promotion opportunities.
• Encouraging leaders to actively model inclusive behaviours.
• Creating psychologically safe environments where employees can speak openly.
• Using inclusive language in all communications and normalising pronoun usage.
• Recognising and celebrating cultural, religious, and identity-based events.
• Providing regular training on unconscious bias, allyship, and microaggressions.

These measures, Anya stresses, are not optional extras. They are essential to creating workplaces where employees feel a sense of belonging and are empowered to succeed. For recruitment, these actions directly influence how attractive an organisation is to potential candidates.

Leading by Example in the FinTech Industry

Leadership is a recurring theme throughout the podcast. Anya emphasises that senior figures in financial technology must lead by example if they want inclusion to take root. Policies and handbooks are important, but employees will follow the behaviours they see modelled by their leaders.

By attending events, mentoring, and speaking openly about inclusion, leaders signal that these issues matter. This creates a ripple effect, encouraging others within the organisation to engage more actively.

For FinTech recruiters, this is a key point. Increasingly, candidates want to know not only about job roles and compensation, but also about company culture and leadership. Firms that can show authentic commitment to diversity and inclusion will be far more successful in attracting the best talent.

Turning Conversations into Actions Across All Levels

In closing, Nadia asks Anya what advice she would give to professionals at all levels of their career, from junior employees to founders, about building inclusive workplaces.

Anya’s answer is that everyone has a role to play. Even if you are not in a leadership position, you can still take action by showing up, joining events, mentoring others, or simply being an ally. By doing so, you encourage colleagues to participate too, creating momentum within the workplace.

She also highlights the importance of training and awareness. Often, people discover in unconscious bias sessions that they may have been excluding others unintentionally. This realisation can be uncomfortable, but it is a vital step towards creating more inclusive behaviours.

Both Nadia and Anya agree that inclusion is a learning journey. Everyone is bound to make mistakes along the way, but what matters is being open to feedback and committed to growth.

Why Inclusion Is Central to FinTech Recruitment

The conversation between Nadia and Anya reinforces the crucial link between inclusion and FinTech recruitment. At Harrington Starr, we know that clients who invest in inclusive cultures are better positioned to attract and retain top-tier talent. Without these commitments, diverse candidates may join but will not stay, undermining long-term growth.

Mentorship, leadership, and community are all strategies that directly influence retention and engagement. For candidates, seeing role models like Anya and experiencing supportive environments can make the difference between staying in the industry or leaving. For clients, this means inclusion is not just a moral imperative, it is a competitive advantage.

Conclusion: Let’s Walk the Talk Together

This episode of FinTech’s DEI Discussions with Anya van den Berg is a reminder that passion for diversity is not enough. Inclusion requires action, consistency, and authenticity. From her own career journey to her mentorship initiatives and leadership role at Deutsche Börse, Anya demonstrates how individuals and organisations alike can create meaningful change.

For the FinTech sector, this means embedding inclusion into recruitment, culture, and leadership. At Harrington Starr, we are committed to supporting this transformation. By connecting innovative firms with diverse talent and amplifying conversations like this one, we aim to ensure that financial technology continues to grow through inclusion.

At Harrington Starr, we are a specialist FinTech recruitment business with offices in London, New York, and Belfast, dedicated to connecting world-class financial technology talent with the industry’s most innovative firms. Since our founding in 2010, we have built trusted partnerships across global markets, helping clients solve their toughest hiring challenges and supporting candidates in advancing their FinTech careers. From software engineering and data to cyber security, sales, marketing, and product management, we recruit across the full spectrum of financial technology roles. Our mission is to go beyond traditional recruitment by acting as advisors, building inclusive workplaces, and delivering long-term value to the FinTech community.