**This article is written by Cecilia Fernández Bugna, director of the Argentine National Bank
**

I was 10 years old, holding on to my mother's hand while she completed a bank transaction, when I first looked up inside the Banco Nación Argentino (BNA).

My immediate impression of it was of a sort of castle, boasting marble trims and other details typical of architecture designed to make those looking up feel insignificant.

Around 23 years later, I returned to the bank, this time as its director. What I would soon learn is that if a building erected as a paean to the power of finance capital could make anyone feel as though they didn’t matter, it could make a woman feel especially small.

A raw deal for women

No sooner had I settled into the director’s office than someone had dropped in to tell me that my problem wasn't just that I was young, but that I was female. I was shocked, but over time I understood that this statement was meant sincerely, both to put me in my place and to fix the path of my career.

Their assertion was true, after all. Being a woman was a problem at BNA. It was a problem when it came to wearing a uniform, something which was mandatory for women, but not for men. It was a problem when going through the early stages of motherhood — there wasn't a single lactarium to extract milk, or anywhere to store it.

And it was a problem when it came to decision-making. Women at BNA always sat as passengers to their male counterparts behind the wheel, and rarely received training to facilitate growth or promotion. Perhaps most painful and disheartening of all was that being a woman was problematic when it came to violence and harassment, much of which passed in almost complete silence.

No sooner had I settled into the director’s office than someone told me that my problem wasn't just that I was young, but that I was female

During my initial tenure, BNA did much to improve people's access to credit, particularly those who ran small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In Argentina's still developing economy, the bank became a key player in promoting families' access to home mortgages. Yet, the unequal treatment of its own workers, especially women, went unchallenged.

When I was summoned to return as BNA's director after working as a researcher, consultant and teacher in December 2019, I had new ideas. I felt this was surely an opportunity to work for the rights of women, the LGTBIQ+ community, and other historically marginalised social groups. I was resolved to transform BNA's internal structure, convinced that society had grown more open and more tolerant.

A house that shelters all people

We set out as an institution to create a “Gender, Diversity and Human Rights” management division. If there is one thing we women know how to do, it is build, reorganise and strengthen networks. So, we created a team, and then drew up all the necessary documentation to enroll new management.

Responses to this varied, and included several hostile reactions. Despite this, networks of women keen to commit to the team quickly formed. Numerous delegates and leaders of the banking union, as well as workers in senior roles, also joined the cause.

This alliance was essential to ensure not just the achievement and implementation of the key results we’d outlined, but the commitment of the bank’s top-level officers throughout the process. It meant the project would be legitimised by the bank’s hierarchy, and so centrally communicated to the rest of the organisation.

Around a hundred people within the bank’s senior hierarchy have since been trained to view their work through a perspective that recognises and respects gender inequalities

BNA has more than 700 branches and service centres throughout Argentina, with more than 10 million customers and 20 million users. This makes it the main financial institution of Argentina. It’s proper role therefore is that of a guarantor and promoter of equity, respect and inclusion for all users, customers, and suppliers.

A secure foundation, with room to grow

In truth, we are far from achieving all of our goals, but we have made a strong start. We avoid uniforms, have upgraded the protocol against violence and harassment, including how to punish these offenses and protect victims.

Around a hundred people within the bank’s senior hierarchy have since been trained to view their work through a perspective that recognises and respects gender inequalities.

We have even improved the bank’s transgender quota, opening access to people who have traditionally been excluded from working at the bank. We’ve also created proposals to build spaces for breastfeeding and storing breast milk.

Meanwhile, credit lines have been directly extended to women who either head their own businesses, or to businesses that have successfully incorporated gender parity on their directorship boards.

At this moment, we are in the process of setting up “an agreement of equality” that states and shows the changes that are being made and that have applicability to every BNA programme.

Our achievement in legitimising diversity at BNA came down to three things: having the approval from the board of directors, networking with the main actors of the bank, and forming external alliances which legitimise this spirit of change.

Here are some tips for how to secure these three essential pillars to deliver change at your organisation:

  • Constantly update campaigns at your organisation, prioritising diversity and spreading its roots to all areas of your networks

  • Produce, share and update factual information on the problems you face in order to achieve concrete data and make solid decisions based on those facts

  • Roll out training on how to adapt to a more equitable work environment, making no exceptions for seniority or status. — Cecilia Fernández Bugna

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(Photo Credit: Flickr, April Killingsworth)

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