Award-Winning Women with Yvette Lingom - a podcast by Mary Shirley and Lisa Fine

Today we’re speaking with Yvette Lingom, the Associate Director of Programming at C5 Communications, Ltd., a leading global events and business intelligence company. Yvette started with a legal background before moving into compliance and is now doing events. Today, Yvette talks to us about the conferences she puts together, their awards for women in compliance, and some great advice. 
What was it like transitioning through the different steps of your career? Would you recommend it to others? Yvette made from a consulting firm to the consulting industry. It was a natural one, because she was still very close to the legal community but doing things differently. Legan work can be intense, and she recommends this to practicing lawyers or consultants who want to change the way they work.
What was the impetus for the Women in Compliance Conference and the associated awards events? 70% of women in compliance roles attend conferences, and fewer than 10% of the 70% were women in senior compliance roles. They decided to celebrate what these women were doing and create an opportunity to showcase these women’s contributions to the compliance industry. 
The conference also exists to close women’s knowledge and skills gap so they can level up in their roles. This means addressing the answer of a very important question: What are the potential hindrances that are preventing women from becoming chief compliance officers?How do you decide on the topics and agenda for the conference?
It involves a lot of research to understand what is current, what is timely, and what people need. Then it’s a process of sorting these topics into “nice to know” and “need to know.” The speakers also need to be relevant; it’s so important that they stay on topic that Yvette and the team dictate what they should be speaking about, and not the other way around, so that women benefit greatly from every event.
What characteristics or achievements do the judges look for when considering winners for the award? A really good entry is key. There’s no interview process — the basis is the entry and the entry alone. The judges take a very close look at the project and achievement to understand exactly what happened. It all needs to be clearly explained. They examine the evidence and supporting documents, check how innovative the solution was, how it benefited the company the person is working for — a combination of things that demonstrate the value of the results.
What advice would you give anyone writing a nomination hoping it will stand out? Be clear. Get specific about your descriptions. What exactly is the project? What is the achievement? How measurable is your result? Make sure to add quality evidence to your submission. If you’re nominating somebody else, get help from the nominee. She would be the best and only person in place to clearly demonstrate what went on and what she has achieved.
How do you define great women in compliance?A great woman in compliance should be a subject matter expert in her specialty. But at some point, knowledge no longer becomes a differentiator; it becomes a given, so she needs to be influential as well, so she can scale up. She needs to have a great personality: kind, tough, but fair. And lastly, she should be capable of demonstrating solidarity: with women in compliance, with women in general, and with the next generation. 
ResourcesYvette LingomC5 Communications LtdGreat Women in Compliance Podcast Community

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