7 Switches for Gender Equity - Champions of Change Leading the Way
The team at EVEN were so inspired by our recent conversation with Olivia Tsen from the Champions of Change Coalition. Olivia is a master at bringing together industry stakeholders, including CEOs, to align around ambitious plans to solve for specific gender equality issues.
One output from the Champions of Change Coalition that resonated deeply with us is their 2024 Report ‘7 Switches’. 7 Switches starts from the problem statement of:
“The world's population has reached 8 billion. This includes over 4 billion women and girls. Yet the world is not designed for them.”
Consider the fact that women are at three times higher risk of getting injured in a car collision because test dummies are designed based on male bodies. Or the fact that 80% of early phase clinical trials lack women’s representation.
We at EVEN have noticed these subtle ways that women are forgotten about in design. So for example, as women entrepreneurs, we have been puzzled that many co-working spaces prioritise having a golf simulator or having beer on tap over the addition of a parent’s room.
The 2024 Report highlights that there are 7 Switches that can be used across every organisational system, from leadership and governance, to policies, to product design, marketing, IT, and space design.
The switches to build gender equality are:
Represented and engaged end to end
Visible, understood, respected and valued
Health and safety without compromise
Customised and accessible
Progressive and supported
Free and empowered
Invested in.
It’s such a worthwhile read. And you know what would be even better than reading it? Raising consciousness of the switches in your organisation, and building them into the decisions that you make.