After a 30-year career at many high-profile banks, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, Anne Boden was so dissatisfied with the UK's banking system that, in 2014 in her early 50s, she entered the world of fintech and created the now highly acclaimed digital banking system known as Starling. Boden is one of 50 women over the age of 50 recognized by Forbes as 2022 trailblazers in financial services, retail, technology and other fields across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Three female technology leaders outline the hurdles women face in the tech field and how to deal with and lessen them. The hurdles include flawed hiring processes, lackluster pipelines of women entering the STEM field and lack of internal company or mentor support for women, and Tara Struyk writes that "[k]ey changes at the corporate -- and even government -- level will be required to continue increasing the number of women working in tech."

The best way America can help close its racial wealth divide is for employers to provide their employees access to retirement savings plans and the educational tools that help them determine if they are headed in the right direction, according to Thasunda Brown Duckett, president and CEO of financial-services firm TIAA. "Every American is entitled to a secure, dignified retirement," Duckett said.

Although Walmart has made strides in its effort to bolster diversity, equity and inclusion, the retailer is still focused on further improvements, US President and CEO John Furner said during his keynote address at the National Retail Federation's Big Show. Furner said more than half of the retailer's new hires are people of color and 44% of those promoted to management are women and 39% are people of color, but he added, "We're going to hold ourselves accountable to making real progress."

More Black and female chief financial officers are being selected by large companies, according to data from Crist Kolder Associates, although these groups continue to be underrepresented. There were 20 Black CFOs at S&P 500 and Fortune 500 companies last year, nearly double the tally from 2020, and the percentage of female CFOs climbed to a record 15.1%.

AllianceBernstein promotes diversity, equity and inclusion through inclusive leadership development programs, training for employee resource group leaders and career programs for female executives of color, says Janessa Cox-Irvin, global head of D&I. "So, we really try to intentionally ensure that D&I isn't this amorphous concept or initiative that sits on the sidelines," Cox-Irvin says.

PwC chief Tim Ryan and Randstad USA CEO Traci Fiatte, leaders in CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, share an update on businesses that have committed to creating equitable workplaces through various initiatives, such as tracking and sharing DEI progress via dashboards, focusing on supply chain diversity and industry-wide collaboration. "[A]s we take critical steps to recruit, retain, and promote diverse talent in an effort to shift the makeup of our workforce, there is no doubt about the imperative to build stronger cultures of belonging," write Ryan and Fiatte.