Welcome to our January edition of the Changemakers series, promoting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) in work environments where everyone can thrive.

This month, we are sharing with you three videos featuring women whose outstanding careers represent the spirit of the Changemakers series: Paula Vidal Castelli, Executive Director Europe of SFAI Global, and Angela Peasah, IFAC Nominating Committee Member and Head Directorate at the Controller and Accountant General's Department of Ghana, both discuss how to foster diverse Boards and inclusive work environments, providing helpful tips for women who wish to accelerate their careers into C-suite and leadership roles, and why having an accountancy background could lead to diverse career opportunities.

We also invited Elaine Young, the Head of Human Capital at IFAC, to share why diversity is important for better organizational performance and what best practices IFAC uses for creating an inclusive culture that provides equal opportunities to employees.

Focus on Inclusive Work Environment with Paula Vidal Castelli, Executive Director Europe of SFAI Global

In this video, Paula talks about skills that make individuals with accounting educations attractive for recruitment and offers her advice on creating inclusive work environments that better support women looking to advance into high level positions.

“Ability to adopt, agility in navigating technological advancements, analytical and soft skills are a must in the current environment."

Focus on IFAC Nominating Committee and Volunteering with Angela Peasah, IFAC Nominating Committee Member

In this video, Angela shares her views on the importance of diversity and volunteering. She also provides insights on attracting more women to serve on Boards and leadership roles in Africa.   

“Women have a lot to offer. Encouragement, opportunities, and mentoring would lead to more women rising up to the challenge."

Focus on Diverse and Inclusive Workplaces with Elaine Young, IFAC Head of Human Capital

In this video, Elaine talks about IFAC’s practices for creating an inclusive workplace, achieving diverse staff and leadership teams, and overcoming biases.

“[Getting rid of] unconscious bias needs to be more than a check the box exercise, but a real long-term commitment to eliminating bias.”

Disclaimer : The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of IFAC or SSBs.

Paula Vidal Castelli
Paula Vidal Castelli

Executive Director Europe

Changing SME's and Enterprises into top performing entities, Paula relies on her extensive track record covering Talent Strategy, Performance Management, C-Level, Directors and Executive oriented solutions. Her Services have been delivered throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa in Technology, Consulting, Financial and Oil & Gas industries. Specializing in Cultural Design, she combines Neuroscience, High Performance Habits and Leadership skills to put the focus on People, ensuring the cost-effective success of any organization, promoting in-house engagement. She is an active international speaker on Leadership, Cultural Design and People.

She is a lawyer, MD in Labor Law and International Relations (UBA), a Labor Law Professor for the University of Buenos Aires, a Certified coach, a I4 Neuroleader trainer, an Online Business Coach, and a Certified facilitator of “Expert Teams”.

Elaine Young

Head of Human Capital

As the Head of Human Capital, Elaine Young is responsible for developing and implementing the human resource strategy of the organization, specifically in the areas of talent management, organizational and performance management, training and development and compensation.

Ms. Young began her career as an accountant and was a CPA working at KPMG in New York.  Ms. Young held several accounting positions in the financial services sector before transitioning to Human Resources.  Over the last 20 years, Ms. Young has hands on experience recruiting for all levels of employee, developing and implementing performance management programs, crafting training programs and administering world class employee reward programs. 

Prior to joining IFAC, Ms. Young held several different positions within Human Capital at CenterSquare Investment Management, Apollo Global Management and Goldman Sachs.

Ms. Young holds a B.S. in Accounting from Lehigh University.