Pride: Financial Services can be more inclusive than you think

Financial services can often be seen as not being particularly inclusive, but at CLS they like to think – and act -differently. They deliver a critical settlement service for the global FX market, processing more than USD 6 trillion of payment instructions every day. It’s a small company with a big mandate, so every person is essential to our success. Find out from Oliver Uitenbroek, Head of Communications and Marketing and co-executive sponsor of CLS’s Pride network and Michelle Clark, Operational Change Manager and CLS Pride network co-lead, on what their company has done to foster LGBTQIA+ inclusivity across all levels of the organization.

Oliver Uitenbroek (He/Him)

Bridget Finkeldey

Oliver is responsible for determining and implementing the global Communications & Marketing strategy across all external audiences, ensuring a consistent global brand and narrative across all channels and conversations. He is also co-executive sponsor of the CLS Pride network.Oliver joined CLS in 2013 from Royal Bank of Scotland’s investment banking group, where he was responsible for advising the markets team on internal and change management communications. Prior to this, he held a number of senior global communications consultancy roles in multiple blue chip organizations across telecoms, oil and gas and resourcing, both in the UK and mainland Europe.Oliver is fluent in four languages and holds an honors degree in Business Communication and Public Relations from the European University, Barcelona.

Michelle Clark (She/Her)

Bridget Finkeldey

Michelle is an operational change manager at CLS where she is responsible for designing and enhancing operations processes, acting as a lead operations stakeholder for changes impacting end user systems and services, and providing oversight of process improvement initiatives. Additionally, Michelle is a founder and co-lead of the CLS Pride network.Michelle joined CLS in 2020 from JPMorgan Wealth Management where she was an associate vice president and held roles in business strategy, change management and collateral risk management.Michelle’s professional interests lay at the intersection of managing complex changes, creative problem solving, and staying on top of the dynamic regulatory policy landscape.Michelle has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a specialization in U.S. policy from The Ohio State University.