OPEN Women Leadership
Forum 2013
There has been a lot of talk about women development in the
past half century and considerable efforts have been made at social, political
and household levels to provide women better opportunities and rights in the
society. The goal, however, has yet not been fully achieved and feminist debate
that women still lag in provision of fundamental and superior rights.
Recognizing its importance, eight out of fifteen Millennium Development Goals
focus on women empowerment and hence it has become absolutely relevant for
overall growth that women rights, abilities and opportunities are optimized
worldwide.
In line with these efforts of enabling women, OPEN Silicon Valley hosted an
absolutely refreshing event this January, where a huge majority of women took
the oath to continue their efforts towards empowering women. At OPEN Women
Leadership Forum, the most frequently used words used were, “women”, “empowerment”
and “feminist”. You put these together and women entrepreneurs in suits start
to salivate. The significance of the Forum is especially highlighted not just
in the social context but also in an economic one.
For me it was a Saturday well spent with corporate
professionals, artists, government officers and young and aspiring volunteers
of OPEN Silicon Valley. It was OPEN’s 5th Women Leadership Forum
(WLF) hosted on 25th of January 2013 at Computer History Museum
where the hall soared up with almost 250 professionals from Silicon Valley. The
President of OPEN, Moazzam Chaudhry opened the remarks encouraging women to
come forward and take up leadership roles in all walks of life. Moazzam quoted
the words of Ziauddin Yousafzai (Malala Yusufzai’s Father), “Fathers are known
by their sons, I am one father who is known by my daughter”, with these words
he encouraged women to come forward in all walks of life and take leadership
roles.
The first speaker of the Forum was Katherine Spiller (Executive
Editor of Ms. Magazine) who is an economist and researcher. Katherine also
holds the position of EVP Feminist Majority Foundation. Ms. Spiller walked the
participants through the history of the Feminist movement and its effect on
women’s activism on both social and political levels. She defined the term
feminist in response to a question and urged women to stand up for women rights
in small and big ways. Katherine in her presentation emphasized that the
feminist movement is just not about personal empowerment instead it stresses
upon collective empowerment. She also spoke about Ms. Magazine and its
contribution in conducting research and investigative reporting on women
issues. Talking about the magazine she further said, that Ms has always
challenged conventional ideas while conducting global reporting.
Katherine pointed out that the fundamental principle for
making progress is to recognize that “change just does not happen, in fact it
is brought about by collective efforts of individuals”. Talking about unequal
rights and opportunities for women Katherine added, “while it may be less
obvious in American society but just as alive in others where power and
authority in constituted in men; men are given more rights and privileges in
comparison to women”. She added that women are regularly confronted with sexual
harassment and violence whereas the feminist movement through its collective
efforts with Ms Magazine got the definition of rape changed after 80 years.
Prior to which FBI only counted the conventional rape cases and most recent
rape types including rape of a minor child etc were not accounted for.
The second principle in making progress according to
Katherine; is empowering more women is decision making and leadership roles.
She motivated women to join public offices if they want to, encouraged them to
join feminist organizations and take up leadership opportunities whenever
possible. She pointed the rise of female student enrollment in public and
community colleges in past 40 years as a result of increased awareness. Also a
million and half young students take at least one women studies course in their
undergrad. In answering a question about future of a feminist magazine she said
though times are tough for print magazines in general but they still enjoy a
good readership as the magazine focuses on women empowerment issues rather than
publishing usual cooking recipes, weight loss programs or make up and jewelry
articles.
The second session at the forum constituted of a panel of
corporate professionals from leading industrial and consulting organizations.
The topic of the session was, “Making it to the Top” which was moderated by
Susan Christy.
The overall discussion among the panelists spanned around how
to keep motivation levels high despite challenges and how to ensure focus on specific
roles, ideas to excel in existing jobs and grow to leadership positions. The
first question asked was, “what help keeps professionals motivated and focused
in their specific roles”? Carlton (VP, AT&T) suggested seeking challenging
opportunities at work, which aspire one most keeps individuals motivated the
most. She also added that one should join an industry that really strikes his
passion. Claudia (Partner at BDO) added that one needs to show his interest in
extra things like seeking additional responsibility, a promotion, taking up a new
role so your colleagues and hire ups know about it and can help you accomplish
it. Claudia gave example of her own career path and shared experiences that
help her grow to the level of a Partner with its firm. Valerie Asbury
(President, NA Lifescan) said one must relentlessly pursue things she really
wants to do and should also help others figure out their aspirations.
Another question was, “In what way have mentors helped you
and how would you recommend people to find mentors?” Maria (Partner, KPMG)
said, first step is to be proactive, as one can’t expect its mentors to reach
out to you unless you reach to them. She further said; she is a big believer in
being a mentor, she said one should always volunteer to mentor others as well. Another
useful tip given by Susan (Author, Moderator) was that any particular
individual needs at least three mentors for their professional development in
their career. Panelists suggested to find something that connects you with a
mentor as it helps finds a mentor whose experiences can inspire you more. Another
suggestion was to look for not just one mentor instead a group of people who
could support you through years of your career growth.
Another question asked was, how do you manage work &
home life balance? The panelists suggested to make smart tradeoffs and ensure
one has a backup system in place for added support. For working moms, managing
children is always an issue when jobs become too demanding, in such scenarios
one should ensure a number of baby sitters to support her through the early years
of child development. The panelists suggested that one should never miss out on
special occasions for their children.
Lastly a very important question was, how to highlight to
your seniors what assignments you are working on and how you are contributing
to the organization? Panelists suggested; firstly you have to talk about the
projects and accomplishments you have made in your area. In this way your work
gets highlighted to others and you are recognized as an asset for the company. Also
never let people define your role or specialization, one should do it herself.
In Corporate America there is a guy network, guys who hang out together, do
sports together and develop careers together therefore, you have got to tell
colleagues and seniors that you wish to achieve things just as much and that
you are capable of doing it. “ You have gotta want that job”.
The writer of the article is Sumble Ahmad. She has a Masters in
Economics & Management and volunteers as a content writer/ blogger with OPEN SV. Sumble loves to read and write and her favorite subjects to blog include business,
economy and professional development. She maintains her blog on Face Book as "My Flight as a Writer".
