International Women’s Day By Kathy Barrett
Having worked in the charity sector until about 8 years ago, equality and diversity conversations were part of everyday life. We discussed the issues and then took action to raise awareness and fundraise for them.
Being at the #breakthebias event on Tues night, hosted by COCO, reminded me that I hadn’t played an active part in supporting these issues since then. And although inclusivity is part of my belief system, I hadn’t been part of a group talking about the impact these issues are STILL having today.
The talks were really motivational, and some amazing work is being done at grassroots level by people like Chantelle from Sister Shack and Imogen from The Last Taboo. The talks reminded me that there are so many passionate people doing amazing work, that even with so many negative biases out there, we can cut through that and change IS happening.
Margherita Pasquariello told us about her long career as one of very few women in the engineering and automotive sector, and how she climbed the ladder to a senior position, amongst a very male and bias background. Yes, this is still very true, even now across so many sectors, and at so many levels. She succeeded because of her passion and determination, but many still do not even get the opportunity to live their passions.
So, there is still work to be done, and the room agreed that this has got to happen at the institutional level – addressing the issues at the core is going to be key in making significant and lasting change. Ok, but how do we do this?
We touched on lobbying as a way to take action, but with time being limited at the event (follow up event please!), we didn’t get a chance to go into the details of “how” we take action. Saying that, it’s good to inspire people with the issues and stories of success, and then people can take action in the way that works for them.
As the only woman on the senior management team (at the moment) here, I was inspired to know I can bring the equality and diversity conversation to White Digital. I will work hard to make sure that our culture is inclusive and open at its core.
Thank you to COCO for hosting this event, Jess for telling the stories of the people COCO works with, and your passion for empowering people in their communities.
You can watch the full event on YouTube here.
