Every year in March, we celebrate International Women’s Day to rally action, to celebrate female achievements and recognise the steady progress in women’s representation. So Presidents, Deputy Presidents, Governors, Ministers, CEO’s, teachers, mothers, working women, married women, single women, Indian, black, white, Latino women, gay, queer, trans women – Happy International Women’s day.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is Choose to Challenge.
Women from all around the world are showing up and speaking out on issues they believe they can influence. Challenging inequality – not because the realisation of our power means the fall of men – but because the journey to equality is still such a long one, and in 2021 this feels wrong. #Choose to challenge highlights the need for awareness and the realisation of the power of speaking up, for women and men to link hands and call out inequalities.
Participating in #Choosetochallenge this year, the Factor10 team is choosing to speak up and raise awareness on
- stereotypes
- the depth of commitment from business systems to provide support and uplift women leaders
- overt and unconscious patriarchy
- affinity bias
- what is needed to provide support and sponsorship to develop the careers of all women,
- systemic bias, highlighting the need to coach the system, to name the systemic biases that we observe, challenging our clients to take action at a systemic level on practices, processes and cultures that create obstacles for women to thrive and rise.
- how to create psychologically safe environments for women to speak up
- allies who don’t listen to our stories.
We lift our voices to name, speak and raise awareness to all that we see as unequal and unfair. We raise our hands and speak for change because if our truths are not told by us, our children will live the same lies we have endured for years to come. We tell our own stories because my story did not start and will not end the same way your story ends. We choose to be alert and create change for generations to come. An alert world is a changing world.
The choice is yours. What do you choose to challenge?
References
Borotho, A. M. (2019). Unbecoming to Become. Ridgeway: Avad Media.
