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 up 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.”
Sisterhood, the power of the pack, will impact — or at least influence — the changes in societal issues that negatively affect women. Discriminatory issues related to gender, under-representation in the business sectors, centuries-old cultural practices as well as self-imposed barriers that women may, consciously or unconsciously, subject themselves to can be put right.
In line with this year’s International Women’s Day UN call to “Invest In Women: Accelerate Progress” WOW is celebrating its growing sisterhood community on March 20 in a gathering dubbed “WOW Manila Soiree”.
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 -
