Meet Aoife. As a director in Risk Advisory’s Climate & Sustainability practice at Deloitte Ireland, she helps clients understand key business risks related to climate change and sustainability, and then develops strategies to turn those risks into opportunities. From high-level environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies to more granular changes to a client’s business model or employment practices, Aoife knows there’s both a business case and a moral imperative to guiding organisations toward more sustainable ways of working.

"We’re lucky to work with so many different clients—big, impactful organisations," Aoife says, though acknowledges that sometimes they’re reluctant to rethink ideas around growth or technology with an eye toward climate-related risks. To help get clients on board, Aoife leans into more than a decade’s worth of experience leading high-impact sustainability programmes and teams, with a specialisation in sustainable supply chains.

On one project, they conducted a "zoom out lab" to illustrate how the broader landscape was affecting business, delving into everything from macroeconomic trends to consumer sentiment around climate change. After the workshop, the client realised why enhancing sustainability was so important and was ready to make changes. Aoife says, "What I’m so proud of is when we’re able to change someone’s point of view."

Bringing in different perspectives can be especially compelling when it comes to addressing climate and sustainability risks, and Aoife says women are a crucial part of that equation. "Clients expect us to be able to bring that level of diversity—not just gender diversity, but true representation and diversity on every team, in every meeting." Different perspectives, experiences and attitudes enable the team to bring the best of what we have to offer to the clients, she says, and to truly do the issues justice.

Because "representation matters," Aoife also works to nurture the next generation of sustainability leaders and encourages other women to consider a career in Risk Advisory. While Aoife finds working in Risk both interesting and intellectually challenging, she also credits the "huge amount of flexibility" at Deloitte as playing a key part in making her role one that’s "very professionally rewarding."

"I’m able to have a high level of impact for clients while also bringing my kids to school," she says. "It's lovely seeing how proud my kids are of the work that I do."

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Meet Leigh. She's a manager in Risk Advisory at Deloitte Canada, where she focusses on supporting government and public sector (GPS) clients as well as initiatives to further diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Leigh regularly works with clients looking to tackle big questions around how to make operations more equitable for their organisation and their people—and for Canada. "I not only help clients solve complex problems," Leigh says, "I help them achieve their greatest ambitions."

Leigh notes that a career in Risk looks different for everyone and that's what's so exciting. "Risk is so much more than what people think it can possibly be," she says, noting that she also had preconceptions coming into the role. At first, she didn't realise how creative the role would be, or the variety of "client puzzles" that she'd get to help solve. From responding to cyber breaches and mitigating the effects of climate change to modernising supply chains and supporting indigenous reconciliation, Leigh and her teams come up with creative ways to help clients tackle some of the biggest challenges they've faced.

In addition to her client-facing role, Leigh also helps lead the firm's Pride Employee Resource Group, which supports two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (2SLGBTQ+) professionals. "My diversity as a woman as well as a member of this community has always been embraced in the work I do—it's considered a strength." Leigh believes DEI is the foundation for success at any organisation and that visible leadership is especially important. "I saw how women who had the same passions as me, who were truly committed to diversity and cared deeply about the government's impact on peoples' lives, could be successful here." The mentorship of other women in Risk helped Leigh "feel seen" and identify a pathway to her own success. "No matter what you're passionate about, you can find someone in Risk who either shares that interest or has experience in that area who's happy to help you pursue it further."

Leigh encourages others to, "Be brave in how you think about your career. There's truly no limit to what you can accomplish or what you can experience through a career in Risk."

We need more like Leigh.

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Meet Faiza. As a Risk Advisory manager in Mumbai, India, part of the Deloitte South Asia member firm, Faiza serves a variety of clients in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) industry. She's a chartered accountant and certified public accountant (CPA) and focusses on helping clients manage accounting and internal controls, while identifying the appropriate financial and business applications to effectively mitigate risk.

Faiza says the opportunity to work with so many different people is one of the most exciting parts of working in Risk Advisory. "People have varied backgrounds with different fields of expertise, which only enhances my professional experiences." Collaborating with both colleagues and clients is an important aspect of her job. "When I can really connect with different people and understand their problems, I'm able to provide better solutions—and also create a better version of myself," Faiza says. She also highlights the strong ethics that drive the Risk Advisory practice: "I feel like a better human being knowing that I'm helping clients do the right thing, at the right time."

While Faiza spent more than a decade of her career as a finance professional, she says her transition to a business professional in Risk Advisory was a natural and welcome transition. "I was determined to excel in other areas outside of finance. Deloitte offered a safe environment for me to do this, with people-focussed policies that helped me feel supported." Deloitte's learning and development programmes for new professionals, as well as the variety of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes designed to support women professionals, all helped Faiza excel in the role. She feels fortunate that both her clients and Deloitte differentiate people based on talent, not by gender.

Faiza especially enjoys working on global projects where she can travel and meet people from all around the world. "There's so much variety in my job," she says, referring to working in Risk Advisory and interacting with clients to develop unique solutions as "an adrenaline rush."

"What better place than Risk Advisory if you want to work with clients and people from different industries, with all different backgrounds and skillsets? There's so much to learn. It thrills me every day."

We need more like Faiza.

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Meet Ibukun. Ibukun is the business leader for the Accounting & Internal Controls Governance, Regulatory and Compliance offerings for Deloitte Nigeria. With more than 16 years of experience with Deloitte, Ibukun is well-versed in developing effective risk management and governance frameworks for clients, while also helping them identify emerging risks—and potentially leveraging them as an advantage. "Risk asks what is positive and what is negative," she says. "There are challenges to solve, but also opportunities to explore."

Ibukun enjoys working digging into her clients' toughest challenges, whether that's communicating a corporate governance strategy to board members or evolving governance from a structured system to an intelligent system that can evolve with the organisation. "I love when I check back in with clients and they're still seeing results. When my clients are happy, I'm happy."

She describes one project where she worked with one of the top telecommunications companies in Africa to implement a regulatory compliance framework in their Lagos location, which led to another project to automate how they monitored the regulatory space. This enabled the client to manage emerging risks much more effectively and they decided to replicate the automation process in their West Africa jurisdiction, too. Ibukun considers this a "milestone project" within her business area, as well as "a major breakthrough" that helped her move to the next level of her career.

Ibukun's diligence and guidance easily extend beyond her clients, and she relishes opportunities to serve as a coach and mentor to other women in Risk Advisory through Deloitte Africa's sponsorship programme. "At Deloitte, women have the support we need to attain the highest levels of professional achievement," Ibukun says. However, she believes we still need more women in Risk—that they bring a "great energy" to the space, thanks to an ability to problem-solve, empathise and multi-task.

"I'm proud to be a woman in Risk, to lead in this space," she says. "And I'm excited to support other women navigating this environment and share my experiences."

We need more like Ibukun.

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Meet Joudy. As a senior consultant in Risk Advisory in Jordan, part of Deloitte North and South Europe (NSE), Joudy delivers internal audit, risk management and governance services to a variety of clients across different industries and countries. She describes the work as challenging and continuously changing, which makes it especially exciting. "We test controls, identify risks and then uncover opportunities presented by those risks that the client may be able to leverage—and there are always multiple ways to help each client do this."

The connections Joudy builds with colleagues and clients alike ensure she's continuously learning, which is one of her favorite parts of the role; the other is seeing the outcomes of her work. She knows she's on the right path when a client's expectations are exceeded. "When we see our efforts come to life and the impact that our recommendations have on a client's operations, it's so rewarding."

Joudy believes that women's management skills and passion for the work are a "great combination" for a career in Risk Advisory. "Of course we need more women in Risk," she says, noting that her experience in the space has been "really delightful—especially when we work a client that might not expect a woman to be leading the project!" Joudy points out that Deloitte gives women the platform to lead and succeed by offering motivation and support, while encouraging knowledge-sharing across roles and teams.

"As a woman in Risk, I always feel included—from the initial input to all the little details," Joudy says. "Just believe in yourself and the work that you do, and Deloitte will support you along the way."

We need more like Joudy.

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Meet Korynne. She's a senior manager in Risk Advisory at Deloitte US, where she's part of the advisory Accounting & Internal controls group. Korynne has more than 17 years of experience and specialises in providing clients in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) space with internal audit services as well as helping them understand how to design and implement internal controls to effectively mitigate business risks. Specifically, she works with social media and artificial intelligence (AI) clients. "Who knew two decades ago that content consumption would be in the palm of our hands?" she says. "And with that comes a lot of new risks that no one knew about before."

Luckily, Korynne loves problem-solving and she's enjoyed a unique opportunity to help clients solve for risks that other companies simply haven't had to address—all while anticipating future trends and the related challenges that may arise. She says that a lot of social media clients are looking for a solution provider to really "walk the walk and join them on their journey" as they grow and navigate the rapidly changing risk landscape. Whether helping clients maintain financial compliance, mitigate operational risks, or manage evolving government regulations, Korynne says it's crucial to focus on thinking outside the box.

"There's always room for more diversity of thought when it comes to Risk and women bring a great perspective," she says. If more women join Risk Advisory, she notes, there will be more mentors and leaders to help elevate the next generation of women in Risk. "I've had amazing leaders within Deloitte who really helped me navigate my career." She also acknowledges Deloitte's focus on learning and professional development, in addition to well-being and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). "We really care about our people here. Not only do we get the full array of client experiences, we get to work in an environment where we're consistently challenged and constantly learning."

Korynne recommends honing your analytical and problem-solving skills is you're considering a career in Risk. She says that "being solution-oriented and thinking critically" is particularly important, as clients count on us to help them identify when and where potential risks exist and then prescribe a course of action if needed.

"When I see my clients succeed and overcome their growing pains, I'm also able to grow and learn from them—it's incredibly rewarding."

We need more like Korynne.

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Meet Rebecca. Rebecca is a partner at Deloitte China, where she has been an integral part of the Risk Advisory business since it launched in 2000. Now a board member for Deloitte China, Rebecca leads the Accounting & Internal Controls portfolio in China and the Asia-Pacific region, while also serving as the lead client service partner (LCSP) or lead business partner (LBP) for several strategic accounts. With more than two decades of risk experience under her belt, she’s had the opportunity to work with many clients across a wide range of industries. "That’s the beauty of working in Risk Advisory," Rebecca says. "It’s a lifelong learning journey."

She describes moving from the audit practice to a role in Risk as a turning point in her career—and a deliberate attempt to break out of her shell. "I was curious and wanted to learn new things, but I was a bit timid back then," she says, though now acknowledges that doing something totally different was quite brave. And taking that leap has certainly paid off: in addition to her current leadership roles, Rebecca also completed two secondments, one in London as a Risk Advisory manager and another in Melbourne as the China Service Group leader for Deloitte Australia. In addition, she recently received an achievement award for 25 years with Deloitte. "This was my first job after graduation … and hopefully it will be my last!"

Rebecca notes that while she’s gained significant technical knowledge over the years, she’s also been able to strengthen and grow her interpersonal skills thanks to the diverse environment. "Our team members all have such different backgrounds and working styles, which makes it really fun to work together." Women often have unique ways of working and perspectives to bring to a project, she says, which can be especially helpful in Risk Advisory. Because empathy and listening are crucial to understanding client needs, they’re also key to helping clients achieve a solution.

While constantly facing new challenges is part of the appeal of working in Risk, Rebecca says, she also appreciates that Deloitte offers "every flexibility to develop a career alongside a family" and encourages professionals to take time for themselves. "There will always be new challenges and things to learn, remember to leave some room for yourself too—for self-reflection, for your personal interests. It will only help to make you a better Risk professional."

We need more like Rebecca.

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Meet Krisztina. She's a partner and the Risk Advisory leader at Deloitte Hungary, an affiliate of Deloitte Central Europe (DCE), as well as the regional leader of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) capabilities for Financial Services industry clients for Deloitte DCE. Krisztina leads a diverse team of about 100 professionals within Risk Advisory, where she focusses on helping banks and other financial organisations mitigate risks to improve business outcomes and enhance cost efficiencies; stand up new risk management functions; and achieve their sustainable financial objectives.

Krisztina enjoys the technical complexity at the heart of many Risk Advisory projects. "I listen very carefully to the challenges my clients are facing and then design, build and implement methods designed to address those issues." She says the most exciting part of her role is when she's able to translate a complex problem into a simple solution that gets clients to a better place than before her team came on board. "I do this job for those moments when I know I've made an impact that matters."

Despite being a natural fit, Krisztina ended up working in risk advisory entirely by coincidence. As a corporate finance graduate, she applied for a job in Financial Advisory services at another Big Four organisation. However, due to a recruitment error, she was called in for an interview for Risk Advisory services instead. "I had a very interesting discussion that piqued my interest in Risk," she says. "And the rest is history." Now with Deloitte for more than 12 years, including 10 with Deloitte UK, Krisztina feels fortunate to have had "amazing opportunities and an incredible career" thus far. She's also grateful that her role enables "a fantastic life outside of work" as well. "I'm not only a Deloitte partner," she says, "But also a wife and mother of two."

While Krisztina has experienced firsthand how important is to work hard to learn what interests you and then work to even harder to gain credibility in that field and cultivate your own area of specialisation, she knows that ultimately "Risk Advisory is a people business." So often, she says, the role is about building a bridge between the clients and the team. "When the clients are happy, our teams are happy—and business is really flourishing."

That said, she adds, "Most importantly, you should be having fun along the way."

We need more like Krisztina.

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Meet Donna. As Deloitte’s global Risk Advisory leader, Donna guides more than 35,000 global professionals who help clients meet their strategic priorities—including becoming more trustworthy, resilient, secure and sustainable—in ways that allow them to sustain their growth.

Throughout her 35-year career in risk advisory services, including more than two decades at Deloitte, Donna has served clients in risk and compliance, operations, internal controls, risk management and business advisory services. She enjoys the intellectual challenge of solving problems in collaboration with internal teams and clients. She says, "It’s especially gratifying if the problems we’re trying to solve benefit a wide variety of stakeholders." Making an impact that matters has long been a driving force behind Donna’s hard work. Early in her business career, though, she acknowledges that it was often hard to have her voice heard as the only woman in the room. "It’s so important for those of us with seats at the table to bring more women into the room, so that even more voices can be heard."

Donna is committed to promoting Deloitte’s shared values of diversity. "In order to get the best possible outcome, it’s important to have diversity of thought in the room as you’re crafting the answer." She adds, "That, in my view, gets you to the best possible answer."

Her advice for women aspiring to join Risk Advisory? Seek out mentors and role models, both male and female—people who are the type of professional you want to be. "Advocate for yourself and your point of view," she says. And, though it may seem counterintuitive to her role, "Don’t be afraid to take risks."

We need more like Donna.

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Read Donna's blog post to learn more about her work, career journey, and advice for female professionals and aspiring leaders

Meet Manuela. Manuela is a senior manager in Risk Advisory at Deloitte Germany. She supports her clients through IT asset risk management, helping them achieve the highest possible returns on their IT investments. Manuela also leads and executes regional strategic business projects, including the institution of shared service centers to enable Deloitte’s European network of firms to more easily collaborate as one team.

Manuela loves juggling a variety of tasks and responsibilities each day. She finds it exciting to integrate business with a deep understanding of IT architectures and enjoys working with new technologies that push her to learn and grow.

Manuela feels more women belong in risk because the more diverse a business environment, the more successful its pursuits will be. She explains, “if you look at a problem with a team of people who have different cultural backgrounds, skill sets and experiences, you are looking at it multi-dimensionally and that always leads to better solutions.”

One of Manuela’s proudest accomplishments is leading a client engagement with a top logistics provider, in which she was asked to address challenges in the client’s ecosystem. Manuela and her team resolved these challenges by implementing tools that provide transparency into the client’s IT assets and organisational structure, thereby optimising its IT investments.

In Manuela’s opinion, women can tend to be more reserved than they need to be when sharing their innovative, unconventional ideas. She strongly believes women are equally skilled at everything they do — all they need to succeed is self-confidence.

-Manuela continues, “The best advice I can give: speak up, be bold and just do it.”

We need more like Manuela.

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Read Manuela's blog post to learn about her journey in Risk Advisory

Meet Mari. She is a manager in Risk Advisory & Strategic Risk at Deloitte Denmark where she’s part of the sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice. Mari facilitates client projects while managing risk and compliance at strategic and operational levels. She also advises on sustainability initiatives designed to help mitigate negative impacts on the environment and ensure fair working conditions, along with enabling responsible business operations within society at large.

“I’m really excited to see massive growth in terms of the sustainability agenda,” Mari says. She describes sustainability as key part of providing robust risk advisory services, noting that organisations are now linking sustainability and risk management more closely—especially as interest in sustainability grows.

Mari likes to explore common ground with clients, which complements her skills and background in communications and cultural studies. Learning about organisational cultures enables her to identify pain points and build bridges between sometimes competing agendas. She has enjoyed a variety of sustainability-focussed projects within Risk Advisory, from compliance and crisis management to brand reputation management.

Mari is particularly proud of her work helping a client enhance policies around sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace. Mari’s team built a tailored methodology for establishing a trusted, neutral space to speak with employees as they researched potential policy updates.

For those considering a career in Risk Advisory, Mari encourages women to explore all the different opportunities. “You’re part of a global community,” she notes. “There are many ways to contribute.” A focus on work/life integration also makes it possible to prioritise both life outside of work and career growth. “It’s challenging, but also very rewarding.”

We need more like Mari.

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Meet Merve. As a senior manager in Risk Advisory at Deloitte Türkiye Merve works with clients to manage and optimise their software spending. Many companies purchase hundreds, or in some cases thousands, of software products. Merve helps her clients identify which software they are not using, or are using improperly, to optimise their expenditures. She does this via client-facing consulting projects and vendor licence and compliance reviews.

In her work, Merve regularly interacts with many accomplished professionals who inspire her to bring her best each day. She also enjoys working with a wide variety of clients and is excited about the opportunities this creates to experience different work cultures. “I feel really lucky to be working here,” she says. “My supervisors inspire me. I get to learn a lot from them. I feel lucky to be a part of this team.”

Merve hopes to see more women in Risk Advisory because, “I’d love to see more detail-oriented, organised women sitting at the table and working together.” Her experiences at Deloitte have shown Risk to be a field in which women are eager to collaborate, support each other and watch each other succeed.

One of Merve’s proudest achievements is a project in which she participated in centralising the IT operations and assets of a beverage company that provides services to seven different geographies, including Europe, Asia, America and Africa. Merve spent a month abroad for this project and deeply values the experience.

Her advice to women who are considering careers in Risk is to, “first, be curious. Second, always be open to learning new things. Never be afraid of asking questions, because that is one of the most important ways for you to grow in Risk and in life too.”

We need more like Merve.

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Merve sargin talks about her journey into the risk industry

Meet Yvonne. She is the national managing partner of Risk Advisory for Deloitte China. In this role, Yvonne wears many hats, providing managerial oversight, acting as a subject matter expert in the life sciences and health care industry, and serving as the lead client service partner for some of Deloitte’s most strategic accounts.

For Yvonne, the most exciting part of her work is its dynamism and the innovation it requires. As the business world rapidly changes, so do its associated risks—which means Risk Advisory professionals must address and anticipate risks with flexibility and creativity. Yvonne finds it fulfilling to meet these challenges and deliver value to her clients by developing and offering the best possible solutions for the problems she encounters.

Yvonne’s proudest accomplishments include projects in which the services she and her team provided led to success for her clients. She also takes pride in the successes of her colleagues and peers. “Those are the most exciting and proud times I have,” she explains, “when I see people grow and make milestone achievements.”

In Yvonne’s opinion, Risk Advisory is an ideal career field for women. Risk Advisory professionals must be highly flexible, accommodating and innovative, and must be sensitive to the rapid pace at which the world is changing.

When asked what advice she has for women who hope to pursue work in Risk Advisory services, Yvonne offers a simple answer: “Trust yourself. Be persistent. Don’t give up until you achieve your goals.”

We need more like Yvonne.

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Yvonne Wu talks about five things to note for an accomplished business leader

Meet Michelle. As a senior manager in Risk Analytics: AI and Data Science at Deloitte UK, Michelle serves as the AI (Artificial Intelligence) Ethics lead, advising clients on the risks and ethical issues posed by AI technology. She also leads the development of a suite of offerings and technical accelerators that help teams create trustworthy AI systems.

Michelle’s work exists at the intersection of risk and AI, an area that is constantly changing. She loves how this pushes her toward continuous innovation.

Michelle is a firm believer in the power of a personal brand. She attributes part of her success to the strong reputation she has built as an AI expert, both within Deloitte Risk Advisory and among clients. Because of Michelle’s pioneering work, organisations can better govern their AI and avoid unintended harm.

Michelle believes more women should pursue Risk Advisory and AI careers because people tend to design solutions according to what they know, making it important for teams to include individuals with a diversity of experiences. As she puts it, “diverse teams build better and more inclusive technologies.”

One of Michelle’s proudest accomplishments is a pro bono Deloitte project in which she and her team built a geospatial analytics and machine learning model. The model predicts which UK local authorities are at highest risk of bed shortages in youth homeless shelters and it won a top five spot in the 2018 DatSci Awards for “best use of data to achieve social impact.”

At present, Michelle is taking advantage of Deloitte’s flexible work options to pursue a PhD in computer science and technology at the University of Cambridge. Her research explores ethics and machine learning systems and algorithmic fairness.

We need more like Michelle.

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Read Michelle's blog post to learn about her success in the risk and analytics industry

Meet Poonam. As the managing partner for Risk Advisory in Canada and Chile, Poonam is responsible for setting strategic directions at Deloitte and for external clients. She helps organisations operate safely and securely, ensuring they are resilient and prepared to function sustainably in this rapidly changing world.

Poonam oversees performance for approximately 150 partners and directors at Deloitte Risk Advisory. She is passionate about bringing a diversity of experiences to her team, whose professionals’ backgrounds range from computer science, engineering and anthropology to environmental sciences and law.

In Poonam’s opinion, women uniquely combine practical, logical thinking with intuition and empathy, making them ideal candidates for careers in Risk Advisory services. As she puts it, by having more women on the team, “we make our business more resilient, and become more creative and more innovative as an organisation.”

An accomplishment Poonam is proud of is her participation in Deloitte’s pivotal acquisition of Isaac, a Canadian consulting firm. Isaac's work centred on helping organisations define and pursue their purpose. For Poonam, working at the forefront of this acquisition was a meaningful opportunity to invest in and actualise Deloitte’s commitment to lead with purpose.

Poonam’s advice to women considering a career in Risk? “Have an open mind.” If you are interested in incubating and commercialising ideas; in advising governments and organisations as they solve complex problems; in diving into areas of specific expertise and connecting the dots between broader questions, Risk is a good fit for you.

“The spectrum of what you can do is so wide,” she says. “Don’t limit yourself.”

We need more like Poonam.

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Read Poonam's blog post to learn more about her journey in Risk Advisory

Meet Taryn. As a senior consultant in Deloitte’s Risk and Financial Advisory practice, Taryn assists teams with SOX compliance and report issuance, control testing and other internal audit projects. Through candid conversations and brainstorming, she helps clients imagine potential risks and optimise opportunities to thrive.

For Taryn, Risk is about thinking outside the box to help people. She is energised by the complexity of risk strategy, its emphasis on innovation, the range of conversations she gets to have and the opportunities her work gives her to help clients solve problems in unique ways.

Taryn believes more gender diversity in Risk and Compliance will help teams challenge preconceived ideas and cultivate balanced conversations. As she points out, “when companies emphasise having a gender diverse workplace and senior leadership, it shows in the sales, it shows in investments. It’s an increase, all the way around.”

One of Taryn’s proudest moments in Deloitte Risk Advisory is her participation in the Chief Audit Executive (CAE) programme at Deloitte University (DU). In this three-day event, over fifty C-level executives are invited to DU to discuss their business difficulties. At CAE, Taryn was able to help clients think creatively about their challenges and share potential solutions they had not yet considered.

Taryn advises women considering careers in Risk: “There are so many times I see in myself and other women that confidence can be lacking. But you are capable of so much more than you think.”

“Be confident and never assimilate.”

We need more like Taryn.

We need more like you.

Read Taryn's blog post to learn about her journey in Risk Advisory