#BalanceForBetter International Women's Day 2019

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This year’s campaign is #BalanceForBetter because if you better the balance, you better the world as balance drives a better working world for all.

Balance is not just a women's issue, it's an economic issue. 

The world needs more women in the boardroom, more women in government and more women in media coverage. Gender balance is essential for economies and communities to thrive.

A message by Erika Rushton to think about on IWD 2019 “To all of you diverse women aiming for, or already in leadership roles - know you are worth every penny you are paid. If you don't get as much as your male counterparts find an employer that values you, even if it's yourself!”

This blog features inspiring women in leadership who have shared advice and lessons they have learnt along the way. We hope this empowers you to push yourself to achieve your goals and add to a better-balanced world.

Rebecca Keegan “Don’t put too much focus on the end goal – be ready to adapt, be in the moment, celebrate career stepping stones and enjoy yourself along the way.”

Lizzi Doyle “You have to get stuck right in. Do the things you aren’t expected to do, make yourself known. Being a hard worker is one of the best reputations you can have.”

Abigail Harrison “Failure is the only option if you plan to succeed. All successful people have failed many, many times. Don’t fear failure, embrace it and use it to learn and grow.”

Alison James “In a busy, competitive and challenging working environment, it’s sometimes easy to forget to give yourself the credit and kindness that you truly deserve. Remember - remind yourself of how far you've come, never be afraid to share your successes and always remember that that you are equally as important as your colleagues. Encourage others as you would wish to be encouraged and supported yourself.”

Lisa Pearson “Get yourself into a place of accepting that staying inside your comfort zone isn’t going to equal a positive change or benefit to your career.”

Ngunan Adamu “Don't change who you are to fit in, disrupt the corporate status quo and be your own cheerleader.”

Claire Young “Have absolute confidence in your ability, the resilience to survive any knock backs and always look at the bigger picture. Don't sweat the small stuff.”

Jo Anderson “I have learnt that every prize has a cost. Being your own business is so rewarding in lots of ways but be prepared to make some sacrifices along the way.”

Dr Diahanne Rhiney “Success in business, particularly when you’re a woman, is often a slow burner. Develop your self-belief, work on your self-esteem and stick with your goals. If you remain true to yourself and your goals are well-researched, time and hard work will bring about success.”

Heather Waters “Believe in yourself, search for the support you need and ask for advice: “you don’t know what you don’t know” - don’t struggle on your own!”

Chelsea Slater “Keep focused on what it is you want to do. As a young female start up owner, many people have tried to give me advice that has slowed me down or veered me on a different path without me even asking for it. Having a business model canvas, values and a mission in place has really helped to keep me and my team focused on what it is we're trying to achieve, which means that we have clear objectives for when we seek mentors for help”

The final quote is from our very own CEO here at The Women’s Organisation, Maggie O’Carroll. Maggie is actively involved in female economic development policy influencing on an international, national and regional basis and is Chair of the UK Women’s Enterprise Policy Group and a member of the Women’s Budget Group.

“Be open to organisational change. This International Women’s Day think about one thing you can change within your workplace to promote gender equality. Have the willingness to be disruptive, innovative and inclusive.”

Let’s all strive together to better the balance.

If you’re thinking about starting a business or want some help for an existing business, contact The Women’s Organisation on 0151 706 8111 or hello@thewo.org.uk to find out how we can support you.

Time Travelling 100 Years for Emmeline Pankhurst's Birthday

A hundred years ago this year women who were over the age of 30 just received the right to vote.  This was a great victory for women in Britain and for all the suffragettes that made it possible.

But travel back a little further in time to July 14, 1858 where one of the most influential and important figures in the suffragette movement was born; Emmeline Pankhurst.

On what would have been her 150^th birthday we explore just what made this notable woman a figure that would be remembered in history.

From the start of her life it seemed Emmeline would always be involved in the spider’s web we call politics.  Born into the Gaulden family who had a history of radical political views, she married her husband Richard Pankhurst in 1879, a lawyer and supporter of the women's suffrage movement. He was the author of the Married Women's Property Acts of 1870 and 1882.

This background and built-up frustration with discrimination led her to founding the Women’s franchise league to fight for the right to vote for married women but only in local elections.

However, this group was not enough to combat the views of the time and in October 1903 she aided in founding the first suffragettes, the militant group WSUP (Women’s social and political union).

WSUP over the course of its history gained controversy and gained the title of being a “radical” party due partly to its extreme methods of protest, smashing windows, damage of public property, starting fires and the famous hunger strikes.

Like many other activists at the time Emmeline was arrested on multiple occasions and when Pankhurst was arrested with a 9-month sentence for throwing a rock at the prime minister’s house she took part in hunger strikes. Luckily, for Emmeline she escaped being horrifically force fed and was freed shortly after.

However, it wasn’t all about ‘violent’ protest as Emmeline led many marches and performed countless speeches, but during the war years she actively encouraged WSPU members to put a hold on the demonstrations in order to take up jobs in factories to support the men that where fighting which greatly benefited the war effort.

Then a hundred years ago on the 6^th February 1918 women who owned property and was over the age of 30 where given the right to vote. Unfortunately, Emmeline did die a few weeks before the voting age would be lowered to be equal to that of a man’s (21).

It is safe to say that Emmeline Pankhurst certainly had her impact on women’s rights movement and will forever be remembered as a figurehead for the suffragettes. While the right to vote was a big step we still have a way to go and I’m sure Emmeline’s great granddaughter, Helen Pankhurst, agrees.

If you want to hear her opinion, then you can check out our interview with her here.

Helen Pankhurst Asked The W.O 'What Would Our Great Grandmother's Say?'

In continued celebration of The Women’s Organisations 20th Birthday, we recently welcomed Dr Helen Pankhurst through our doors for a very special event. Dr Helen Pankhurst is very much following in the awe-inspiring footpath of her great Grandmother Emmeline Pankhurst, a British political activist and leader of the suffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote.

Dr Helen Pankhurst is a women’s rights activist and senior advisor to the humanitarian and development agency CARE International, a Board Member of ActionAid, and a Visiting Professor at the LSE and at Manchester Metropolitan University. She works partly in Ethiopia supporting the development of programs focused on the interests and needs of women and girls. In the UK, she is a public speaker and writer on feminist issues.

Women have come a long way since the Suffragette movement, but the fight for economic equality continues – nowhere more so than here at The Women’s Organisation; the largest developer and deliverer of enterprise support targeting women in the UK led by our CEO, Maggie O’Carroll. 

So what happened when we brought together two of the pioneers leading today's women's rights movement? We looked back at just how far we have come over the past 20 years in improving women’s economic development, considering the changes in women’s lives over the last century and of course, we asked Helen – What would your Great Grandmother say?

Helen spent a moment reflecting on her great grandmother, Emmeline Pankhurst, identifying the three crucial motives of the Suffragettes. This began with institutional and legal change in allowing women the right to vote, “but there were two other phenomenally important elements, the first is agency; women standing up and doing something in their own lives – looking at things differently and conceiving of the world differently”. The women’s rights movement exists because a single person has classified attitudes towards women as oppressive and dared to imagine a different world. 

The last and most crucial element of the Suffragette movement was moving from agency to action and actively challenging social norms, “changing the white society’s views about what women could and couldn’t do”. Helen argued that these three crucial elements can still be applied to any women's work that takes place today; such as what goes on right here at The Women's Organisation in striving for economic equality - recognising something as problematic and doing something to change it. 

Helen paid particular attention to the critical importance of role models – people who teach and inspire us to see the world in a new light and who are often prone to being teared down by the media, “We need to raise them up when we see them and support them when the media then turns on them. For every woman that is brought up, the media will have a field day in cutting them down … Social media has a tremendous opportunity to hold to account main media”. 

Social media was a running theme of the event and Helen encouraged us to reclaim the internet as a source of power by engaging in ‘call-out culture’. Furthermore, to contemplate how we can use social media as a platform to reiterate facts and statistics and remind people that there is still a need to fight for gender equality, “a lack of data causes a problem, we’ve seen in a referendum just how dangerous a lack of facts can be … One of the things we can really do through social media and in other ways is to get those facts out there”.

The event taught us that social media is encouraging us to break down the barriers of not only gender, but also race, class, religion etc.; “these simplistic schisms, blow them away and let’s see who people are and who they want to be. Once we allow people to be who they want to, things become a lot more interesting”. 

The brave and courageous actions from the Suffragettes prompted a feminist movement that we continue today. When asking Helen just what her Great Grandmother would say, she told us that each success no matter how big or small is a mark of victory and indeed a step in the right direction.

Feedback of the event left from the attendees included:

“Greatness at its best – what amazing conversations”

“Language … How impactive and potentially negative. Language such as ‘you guys’, ‘grow a pair’, ‘man up!’”

“A room full of power and inspiration – thank you”

“Fabulous, thought-provoking and inspiring”

“Great questions and a very useful reminder that we are all role models”

“Helen is a brilliant woman who speaks our language”

“A call to action. Time to think big thoughts again. What a great event”

“A privilege to be a part of this discussion – inspiring”

If you would like to be kept up to date with our future events, then head over to the events page of our website