Today we are thinking about International Women’s Day and women in the security sector. Castor Vali’s Global Head of Security Information Services, Keri Leicher, is featured this week by Trade Finance Global. She is one of a number of women highlighted in their initiative focusing on Women in Trade 2021.
The focus of International Women’s Day this year is “Choose to Challenge” – an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.
Marilyn Blattner-Hoyle, the Global Head of Trade Finance states: “The ideas from the trade world of harnessing gender equality wins, being alert to situations where no gender-dimension is perceived, and celebrating our female role models and pipeline, are just small steps to addressing a gender equal world. Choosing to challenge requires all of our innovative might, thinking to the stars and beyond.”
Keri spoke to the Women in Trade team about:
- Why she chose a career in the security and risk management sector
- What message she would want to send to young women who are thinking about their future career.
She highlights that it is important for “all young people to think more creatively about their careers, to pursue multiple interests, to read much more widely, and to remain open to acquiring new experiences and meeting new people outside of their comfort zones or traditional work trajectories/degrees.” Read the full interview here.
Why women should consider working in the security sector
Of working in the security risk sector Keri states: “I have always had a strong interest in international affairs, with a desire to understand the how and why behind political and security developments – particularly across the African continent which has a rich and diverse recent history. Choosing a career in country risk has allowed me to take this understanding from the theoretical to the practical as I work with clients to help them navigate local and regional developments, trends, and at times, major life-threatening crises, to both manage the risks but also to harness the opportunities.”
Castor Vali is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to ensure a fair working environment for all, free of discrimination and harassment. We thrive on the diversity of our workforce. Reaping the benefit this diversity brings to our team, our services and our clients.
Keri is the head of Castor Vali’s Security information Services (SiS) department. This department provides regular political and security risk reporting on developments across the Africa region. These include daily briefings, SMS alerting of significant events and weekly reports. If you would like to know more about the work Keri does with Castor Vali, please contact keri.leicher@castorvali.com