In today’s post, our amazing blogger of the month Gloria Edukere shares with us a blog post titled Towards Breaking the Bias
It’s women’s history month, and it’s inspiring to see different groups of women taking stands to ensure the future of women and girls across continents.
As a young woman, I was born to hear about the business skills of my mother’s mother. I have grown to experience my mother’s growth trajectory personally and professionally. Therefore, it would be disappointing not to join forces in amplifying the voice of women – especially marginalized women and girls who hope for a better and gender-balanced society.
A prelude of events following the recognition of women’s activities and participation throughout history is always commemorated with events marking progress made as far as gender equality goes. Women’s history month is dated to recognize women change-makers, celebrate sheroes, amplify the voices of women all over the world in an attempt to birth an inclusive space with unscratched and untapped possibilities for women to thrive.
Globally, women are confronting stereotypes, leading the pack, disrupting systems, creating initiatives to amplify the voice of women, and celebrating other females. From founding tech solutions in the emerging market to driving change in the energy sector, women are not quieting down on the subject of inclusiveness.
In the news, feminist groups are marching to stop the war in Ukraine; the rejection of the gender bill in Nigeria had fueled a national women’s protest, international organizations are still pitching for the involvement of women in building the AFCTA, women-centric events are still taking center stage as women are stepping outside the box to break the biases that have gone on for far too long.
Calls for participation in projects, forums, webinars, signing open letters, and fostering partnerships in subjects related to LGBTQ, diversity, and inclusion, sustainable development for women, finance and investment opportunities, women participation in tech, agriculture, politics, gender justice, sexual and gender-based violence, abortion rights, women in energy, cancel culture, disruption, marginalization, etc. There are so many conversations going on in the world about women.
As a young woman from a marginalized group, I have experienced gender imbalance in different ways. From not being selected as the only female candidate for a male-dominated role to not being accepted in a fellowship because I am a black woman amongst others. I decided to celebrate more black women around me who are pushing forward to achieve personal and professional success by creating storytelling for change project ‘Cocoa Series’ sharing inspiring lifestyle stories of vibrant black women, and sharing pieces that could be woven together to achieve growth on a personal and professional scale. I believe sharing our stories would facilitate the work we’re all doing to achieve gender balance.
“When you stand and share your story in an empowering way, your story will heal you and your story will heal somebody else.” – Iyanla Vanzant
More so than ever, I believe now is the time to get involved with women-focused virtual and in-person activities such as online campaigns, street runs, protests, and other events organized to bring women together to celebrate or amplify powerful propositions for the benefit of all. While we work towards building an unbiased world, let’s keep the conversations going and work together to support more women and girls.
“Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.” – Diana Ross
