Kismet Singh, Planning Editor, Bloomberg TV Asia & Co-Lead, Bloomberg Women’s Community, HK, shares with WiFA how she promotes diversity and equity, who she admires, and much more.
Your background and journey to your current position and organization
I am a broadcast journalist who has worked both in front and behind the camera, in a career that has spanned Hong Kong, New York, and New Delhi. Across two decades, I have anchored a prime-time financial news programme from the Nasdaq Marketsite in Times Square, reported live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, covered India’s mammoth general elections, and produced a multi-award winning series on terrorism and conflict focusing on Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. My current role includes shaping the day’s editorial agenda, shepherding our Bloomberg Equality segments, and driving the effort to amplify diverse voices – both internal and external. I am also Co-Lead of Bloomberg’s Women’s Community in Hong Kong and a member of our D&I Task Force.
How do you promote diversity and gender equality in your life and in your workplace?
I promote it with conviction and integrity and it helps that diversity and inclusion is a critical component of our company culture. I am Co-Lead of Bloomberg’s Women’s Community in Hong Kong, a voluntary role under the umbrella of our D&I Communities in Asia. Our mission is to drive a culture of inclusion, work toward female retention and advancement, provide our colleagues with a forum to share their experiences and offer them the support and tools they need to find their path. Among our initiatives this year, we’re focusing on opportunities to elevate the skills and insights available to women. We’re also working to #BreakTheBias and normalize conversations around women’s health.
Please tell us how you or someone in your life that you admire provided hope or healing to the family or community
These terrible times have truly brought out the best in people. I was introduced to an organisation that doubled down on educating and empowering children from Hong Kong’s underprivileged non-Chinese speaking communities during the pandemic. I have an aunt who provided 2500 meals a day to New Delhi’s most underprivileged in India’s darkest days; a former colleague who took a series of road trips to tell the human stories of the pandemic, amid deepening inequalities; a neighbor who is a doctor on the front lines in HK, offering care and assistance to the families in our building, free of cost. There are always people who provide hope, you just have to look for them.