While in the corporate world, women have made inroads in the diversity and inclusion agenda, in the sailing industry there is so much more to be done. Professional sailor Leah Sweet has sailed against the current, literally and figuratively. Sailing is a masculine, misogynistic world. Her compelling experiences have given her the courage and inspiration to advocate strongly for women in sailing. She has chosen the vast ocean to be her stomping ground, weathering the gender bias storm, navigating a career marked by headwinds of uncertainty and support that comes in crests and troughs.
“It’s a broken industry in many ways but as we try and learn from the corporate world, we can benefit,” says Leah. “We have a saying in sailing that the worst day on the ocean is still better than the worst day in the office.” Despite blustery developments, there is a steadfast will to make everything work. With her determination and dedication, nothing is impossible.
The impact of poverty on one’s access to getting an education cannot be underestimated. Children from low-income families are much more likely to miss out going to school. No one can attest to this fact better than Ann Beatty, who left school at age 15 to help support her family financially. It meant giving up her dream to be a lawyer. “When I was growing up, we were economically poor, so it wasn’t possible for me to go for higher education,” says Ann.
The biggest life-changing influences that made her realise that education was important were her father and her time spent in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Trained as a life coach who worked her way up to leadership positions for the past 22 years, her knowledge and skills were honed by years on-the-job, and her values polished through trial-and-error experiences from the “university of life” until she found her calling to help break the education injustice cycle.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. Its global impact is enormous. Getting back on our feet called for a considerable recalibration in the way we think and act because, like it or not, life was never the same again.
Business development strategist Susanne-Kikki Israelsson had a flourishing consultancy career for years before the pandemic. She incurred business losses. Trying to make sense of what was happening, she had to quickly reflect and dig deeper than usual into what the future would look like, starting with the consequences to her.
“Covid put us all in a situation where we understood how vulnerable we all were, and that everything could change quickly and without warning. It pushed me to rethink and reframe everything, professionally and personally,” says the purpose-driven Swedish entrepreneur. “I believe in creating long-term value for society, the environment, or a certain group of people. There must always be a purpose and value in everything you do."
The race to push AI beyond today’s limits is just beginning. Are you AI prepared? Is your job at risk? Fear of the unknown, job security concerns, privacy security issues, ethical and moral questions, the digital divide are among the reasons cited for those who feel AI is a threat. The truth is we've been using AI-driven technology for decades. But when proponents started showing fully AI-generated Picasso artworks, Japanese manga and anime content, the controversy surrounding human talent vs AI created a tsunami of reactions.
The reluctance to embrace AI is not insurmountable. Understanding the possibilities of what AI can do for us and to us is key in demystifying AI. We need to educate ourselves to better understand it. More importantly, we shouldn’t lose sight of the need to firmly fasten Heartware to Hardware to create a more impactful human connection and to sustain talent onwards.
Many of us navigate multicultural contexts in our personal lives. I often joke that I don’t need to step outside my house to experience multicultural clashes. I was born and raised in the Philippines, but my children are third-culture kids—born in Belgium, raised in England, with Filipino parents. This rich blend of cultures within a single family illustrates the complexity of cultural interactions.
At first glance, it might seem enlightened to view people purely as individuals, independent of their cultural backgrounds; after all, individuals, regardless of their origins, possess varied personality traits, and even people of similar backgrounds hold a wide range of varied perspectives. We absolutely should approach each person with the intention of getting to know them personally. However, we all belong in some way to the contexts that have shaped us, and even with the best of intentions, it is easy to misjudge others through our own cultural lens.
Did you know that much of our medical knowledge has been based on a single body type: the white adult male body? That historically medications and treatments have been developed primarily for males, with female bodies often regarded as smaller versions of male bodies?
There’s a gaping crack in health equality and equity between men and women. It will take more than just sticking a band-aid to plug it. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. However, keeping incisive discussions ongoing is a step in the right direction. That’s exactly what staunch advocate of gender parity Soo Son is doing.
“Everyone should care about female health equity because all life originates from a female body. It is not only crucial for women but also for men. It is not only a matter of fairness but also a fundamental aspect of promoting the wellbeing and fulfilment of all individuals,” she says.
An opening act for multi-Grammy winner Bruno Mars in a mega concert is undoubtedly on any musician’s wish list. Ecstatic doesn’t even begin to describe Debbi Francisco’s once-in-a-lifetime experience. There was no live audition. Her band was hired based on its Instagram videos.
“We got a message on our Instagram saying that they want us to play for ‘a show’. We only learned later on that it was for Bruno Mars,” says Bahrain-based Debbi, who no one believed could play the drums when she was just starting out. But she proved them wrong. Switching instruments – drums, guitar and bass – she and a fellow Juniper Club bandmate played to a high-octane audience for one-and-a-half hours at Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk Live In Bahrain concert. The gig opened doors for her including gigs in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Dubai. She envisions playing in other parts of the Middle East, and maybe someday Europe, Asia, America.
It is rare to come across an MZer (under 30) looking out for retired or retiring Boomers. Singaporean Kai Ning Lim has long felt motivated to help the Silver generation that she co-founded The Courage Chapter offering equitable job-matching solutions for retired senior professionals.
“I see a lot of elderly people doing gruelling work... I’ve always felt compelled to help these vulnerable people who still want dignity and self-respect,” says Kai Ning. TCC helps mature employees transition into a retirement that is fulfilling, financially viable, and still gives them time to do what they love through meaningful “reternship” (pun for return to work) projects. Companies can leverage the years of experience of skilled seniors that could contribute in achieving overall business growth. It’s a win-win proposition.
Women can collectively break the cynical cultural cycle of gender prejudices if they band together. Women of the World (WOW), a global community of women, proves that this can be achieved by giving refreshing new meaning to ‘inclusion and diversity’: raising each other and channeling the power of collaboration is how to change the equation while having fun along the way.
“We are a ‘She For She’ alliance that focuses on pro-actively developing our fellow women to do better in their professional and personal lives,” says Isa Buencamino, founder of WOW. “It’s very much a Sisterhood league at its core. We’re fostering a ‘No Judgment Zone’ kinship to rise above gender-related biases, among other things.”
A person’s life is like a book. Interwoven chapters encapsulate the unique narratives describing the choices one makes, big or small, every step of the way. Milica Clayton’s life is a rich collage packed with heartening chapters of positive learning from her past 42 years. Her book of life is still a work-in-progress because there’s still so much to look forward to as her journey continues. “If there’s one thing I’m passionate about it is growth,” she says. She takes it all in and reflects on where she has come from and the challenges she has overcome to navigate life. Learning and loving, one chapter at a time, is what keeps her going.
Born in Manhattan, New York to emigrant parents from Copacabana, Bolivia (South America), Dr. Lizette B. Suxo is on a mission to protect and preserve her heritage language Aymara so that future generations including her son can also be connected to their Aymara cultural heritage. Her quest turned to passion, then purpose and now advocacy.
“It's never too late to be the change… Learning Aymara, the indigenous language spoken by my ancestors, is both a connection to my culture and people, as well as an act of resistance and repair. I want to make sure that my family’s heritage language does not disappear with my generation,” says Lizette.
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British educator Julie Rees is instilling life skills grounded in character-building values. “I had the desire to not only influence the children in my class but also to shape how the school was run. I didn’t want the school to be an educating machine focused on outcomes. I wanted to give the children experiences to help them grow,” shares Julie. Teaching values is important so children understand that materialism will not bring them happiness. She believes that “comparison causes mental health issues and that comes from judgement, judgement of self against others."
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The reverberating voices of “Me Too” crusaders may have reached all corners of the world. Despite that there is still the lack of diversity for women in technology who are disproportionately missing out on career opportunities especially in leadership positions. Data scientist Dr. Aida Santaolalla concedes that the challenges in gender and workplace culture gaps are real. However, she remains steadfast in focusing on her quest to find a cure for cancer through data science. Her track record in clinical research, which consists of co-authoring 52 peer-reviewed published articles in the past 10 years, is proof that women in tech more than deserve a leadership spot in a predominantly male industry.
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“The world misses out when women play small.” Isa Buencamino transcended the typical trailing wife syndrome when she created her dream job: one that she can take with her when travelling or relocating but, more importantly, one that she can keep doing to benefit other women, trailing spouses or not, for the rest of her life. “I set up the Women of the World (WOW) coaching programme, borne out of a desire to help women live their best lives: for young women to unleash their potential and for senior women to build powerful legacies. WOW enables women to play big.”
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Do boundaries keep people out or fence you in? For Jocelyn Goh, the answer lies in why they were put up in the first place. She hurdled barriers just being a young female Chinese from the working class. She understood and learned to set boundaries and not just subject herself to conventions if they were unfair and unjust. It’s not about erecting walls to fence her in. Rather, it's to fence out unwelcome situations and people, choosing to rise above parochial prejudices against gender, race, age and cultures. “After a while I realised that my background and heritage had its benefits,” she says.
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“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.”
- Edmund Lee -
