On January 1, Holzinger-Burgstaller took over as head of Erste Bank and its 2,500 employees, combining the roles of CEO, CFO and COO. Among her goals is "to ensure that a woman never finds herself alone in the meeting room again", she says. After a stint at the Austrian Financial Markets Authority (FMA), she rose rapidly through the ranks once she joined Erste Bank - but had to battle sexism at every step. The first question she gets in public meetings, she says,"are always specifically related to the fact that I am a woman". Though not required to do so by law, Erste Bank put in place a quota system to fill at least 40% of its management positions with women.

Source: The Star February 23, 2021 02:01 UTC