Joel Blake, Founder & CEO at The GFA Exchange, on Diversity for Business Gain & Failing Fast to Fuel Innovation

We had a compelling chat with Joel Blake OBE, Founder and CEO of The GFA Exchange on this week’s show. An entrepreneur, community leader and “rebel in a suit”, learn how Joel’s passion for diversity and inclusion powers his business, why failing is fundamental for success, and what inspires him to innovate and lead.

Embarking on his entrepreneurial journey at age 21 to help other young people improve their employability, Joel soon founded one of the UK’s first diverse recruitment agencies. As he expanded into professional services and FinTech, Joel tells us why diversity and inclusion were the guiding star of the vision, technology and partnerships that built his companies’ success. We were intrigued to learn how Joel is championing inclusive lending at The GFA Exchange – through innovative AI models that assess true business health and make lending accessible to historically excluded diverse people and businesses.

We also learned what makes Joel tick as a leading innovator and entrepreneur. If you want to hear how partnering with companies who share your values, giving back to communities, and making a commercial business case for diversity and inclusion can put your business in pole position, don’t miss out on this episode!

Additional highlights from our conversation include:

• Why failing fast and re-building business models with new learnings is essential for succeeding in Financial Services
• What it means to be awarded an OBE
• Why companies shouldn’t only draw on diverse talent pools, but replenish and invest value back into them
• The future of the workforce, why millennials value culture over “diversity”, and how companies should adapt

The full podcast is available now on all major streaming services, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

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