Celebrating trailblazers
/“Forget China, India and the Internet — economic growth is driven by women.” - The Economist, 2006
Not only are they smart, go-getters and incredible leaders, but they're also trailblazing paths that will change the world. I'm not talking about an industry or a specific sector, but a generation of women ( particularly young women) that have an inspiring amount of determination, leadership and energy.
Here at YWiB, we have built a great support system to encourage young women step up and leave their mark. One of the main reasons for the success of this system, is due to our Board of Directors, whom we love dearly! Two days ago in the Vancouver Sun, one of our Board of Advisors, Frieda Granot ( Senior Associate Dean at UBC Sauder School of Business) was featured as a trailblazing scholar and we're so incredibly proud and privilleged to have her on our BOD.
Some of the highlights and personal favourites from the article include:
On awareness: I think one of the biggest things is that there is still a lack of awareness about what women bring to the table — in diversity of thinking, bringing different perspectives.
It’s not just a women’s issue. It’s a male issue, also. We need to recognize that there are continuing barriers in the workplace to women moving into leadership positions.
On the next generation: Some of the younger generation, women who are go-getters, see themselves moving up in the hierarchy, and [believe] we will see many more young women in leadership positions and in coming into the big corporations. I think if we see a few successful role models, the change will come.
On the current landscape: Three-quarters of the 1,500 biggest U.S. companies have no women in management positions. There are 28 female CEOs out of 1,000 of the largest U.S. companies.
Our role as women is to believe in ourselves, to say, “Yes, we can do it, and let’s go and get it.”
You can read the full article on the Vancouver Sun here. There is also a follow up blog post here on the Vancouver Sun as well.