Women’s Wealth at the Wayfinders Summit: Building Prosperity Together
- Raj Hayer
- Oct 3
- 4 min read
As I reflect on the Wayfinders Summit that took place in Toulouse again this June, I’m filled with gratitude, conviction, and a fierce sense of pride.
This was more than a conference. It was a movement. A safe space. A launchpad. A rallying cry. We gathered not just to talk, but to build, and to build forward, together.
Because here's the truth: the data is stark, but it doesn't have to be our future.
At the heart of our summit was a powerful conversation about women and wealth, one that is long overdue, and yet still too often met with silence, discomfort, or even dismissal. I've been conducting interviews with women across the globe, asking deeply personal and essential questions:
What does wealth mean to you?
What do you wish you’d known earlier?
And what can we share with other women?
What I kept learning about and kept repeating was this:
The wealth gap is the hidden crisis we’re not talking enough about. It’s more than just a pay gap. It’s a lifelong, compounding inequity. And it starts early.
According to reporting by Jessica Shockley in The Times, by the age of 19, women in the UK are already £2,000 behind men in savings, a direct result of earning less.
But the problem doesn’t stop there.
Because we’re not just underpaid.
We're also underserved.
Many women aren’t investing or saving at all, not because we don’t want to, but because we haven’t been included in the financial narrative. And what little we do have is too often consumed by caregiving, career breaks, health costs, or sheer survival.
The wealth gap isn’t just unfair – it’s dangerous.
By age 64, the average woman in the UK will have £101,000 less wealth than her male counterparts. Across a lifetime, that can accumulate to over £1 million in lost wealth. Globally, men own £85 trillion more than women. These are not small numbers. They represent lives shaped by constraint rather than choice.
And that’s exactly why the Wayfinders Summit was created. That’s why this summit and this community are so critical.
Because when women come together to talk openly about money, about power, about equity, things shift. We shift. Our mindset shifts. And that’s where real, lasting change begins.
What we also acknowledged in Toulouse is that this isn’t just a financial story, it’s a wellbeing story. During the pandemic, women's businesses were hit harder, their health suffered more, and caregiving responsibilities surged. Domestic violence tripled. Mental health issues spiked. In response, many women put their careers, education, and ambitions on pause.
At Wayfinders Summit, we say clearly: health first, then wealth.
You can’t build prosperity from a place of burnout.
And yet, even in the face of these challenges, there is momentum. There is movement.
Startup activity among women is rising. In the U.S., half of all new businesses are founded by women. In the Asia-Pacific region, 54% of those are led by women of colour. In fintech, women’s representation has jumped from 6% to 30% – an incredible shift in a traditionally male-dominated space. New grassroots initiatives are springing up everywhere, from Ellevest to Female Invest to The Female Quotient. We’re no longer waiting for a seat at the table. We’re building our own.
But progress is not linear, and it's certainly not inevitable. It requires our sustained attention, energy, and collective will.
I’ve been in rooms where, the minute a woman steps on stage to talk about equity, or diversity, or gender, people walk out. Literally get up and leave, women and men. I’ve seen it happen in global forums, tech conferences, and startup festivals. That discomfort with hearing women speak candidly about disparity is real.
But here’s what I’ll say, and what we all said together in Toulouse… we’re not backing down.
We speak because the numbers demand it. Because our daughters deserve it. Because change only comes when we own our voices and stand our ground – even if half the room walks out.
And yes, I shared my own story too, not for sympathy, but for solidarity.
I left home at 16, and started paying rent that same year. Then came eight years of health issues and surgeries that pulled me out of the workforce entirely. That’s eight years of lost income, compounding losses, missed opportunities, and the truth is, you never fully catch up. But here’s the other truth: you can still move forward. You can still learn, grow, and thrive. Especially when you have a community.
That’s what Wayfinders Summit offers: a space to grow wealth and wisdom. To build practical skills, yes, but also to build belief. The kind that says you don’t have to be passionate about taxes or investing to be capable. You just have to start.
It doesn’t have to be your passion, but it damn sure needs to be your skill.
Because every woman who learns to invest wisely, to claim her financial space, and to raise her voice is creating a ripple effect. We know from research that women are more likely to pay it forward, to invest in their families, communities, and other women. The more wealth we hold, the more agency we wield, and the more inclusive the future becomes.
In Toulouse, we built something bold; we didn’t just talk about inclusion, and we practised it. We didn’t just critique the system. We offered new visions for what’s possible. We acknowledged the gaps, but we also spotlighted the gains. And perhaps most importantly, we reminded one another that we’re not alone in this.
The Wayfinders Summit is not a one-off. It’s the beginning of a new chapter. A network of women and allies committed to changing the story, not just for ourselves, but for everyone coming after us.
So yes, I’m proud. Proud of the voices that spoke. Proud of the connections we made. Proud of the honesty, the energy, the creativity that filled every room.
But more than that, I’m hopeful.
If we continue to show up, speak up, and lift each other, there’s nothing we can’t change.
Let’s not wait for the system to fix itself. Let’s keep building. Let’s keep investing in ourselves, in each other, and in a more equitable future.
Health first. Then wealth. Always, together.
Wayfinders Summit (2025): Women & Wealth
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