There Is So Much More Work to Do
As a minority and as a woman in leadership, I’m energized to see the accelerating wave of women across industries becoming a force for empowerment and gender equality. Each time the ranks grow, we are one step closer to a new status quo where women at the top will be the norm. It is even more exciting to see how many male colleagues are interested and ready to help bring female voices to the table; they just wish they knew how to help, which is an opportunity I’m passionate about enabling.
My years of experience have proven and led me to appreciate the fact that making a radical change requires an effort from all of us. Gender equality should not be a fight by women for women. Gender equality should be an initiative where both genders work together to unlock a better future. Our job as female leaders is not to lose focus on creating equal opportunity for everyone on our teams. Under our gender equality movement, we need to remember that as we are asking for more respect, we should ensure we give it too by equally balancing women empowerment, gender equality, and inclusion.
Men want to be part of the conversation, so let’s invite them to support our efforts regarding empowerment, equality, and inclusion initiatives; to understand the challenges female colleagues face day after day; and how collectively we can take the right steps to create a healthier and more desirable workplace environment.
At Y Media Labs, we’ve made strides toward making this a reality by doing the following:
- Offering equal pay for our employees
- Creating a Women Initiative (WIN) to empower women and men in areas that matter most, when it comes to gender equality and inclusion
- Breaking apart gendered silos where “bro culture” often festers
- Growing the next generation of leaders
- Successfully hiring an even split of females to males in our Atlanta office in 2018
And we see those initiatives as only the beginning. There is so much more work to do. As a leader, and as a mother, I will continue to strive for an inclusive environment where gender equality is clearly reflected. An environment I hope our next generations will look to as just being the status quo.