My daughter, my son, my niece and I recently had the pleasure to watch the Merrimack College and UNH women’s hockey teams face off against one another. Those remarkable student athletes (photo) and the advocates who work hard for gender equity in athletics and education are a good example of greatness. Women’s History Month is celebrated in March and International Women’s Day on March 8. Against this backdrop, it is instructive that In 2021 the impressive White House Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality noted the following: “The status quo has not worked for women, girls, and all those who experience gender-based discrimination” and I asked some friends and colleagues whose work and ideas I respect and admire this question: What is one thing you believe can bring the US significantly closer to true equity and equality for women?
“I’m fatigued talking about this. We have all the data, stats on how salaries, workload at home and at work, benefits, the impact of taking family leave – yet not much has changed. How do we design an integrative workforce development model- that I now call Life Affirming Practices – that actually deal with the reality of what’s happening in the workplace? As we have seen during the pandemic, the status quo of the majority of home life and child rearing still lands on the woman. I have absolutely seen men step up. We have required men to leave their souls at the door for generations. We’ve got to support men in how to practice emotional intelligence within relationships. THIS would create a shift in humanity. This conversation is not just about women. It is about all of us . And until that big narrative is normalized, there will be no significant change We’ve got to stop polarizing all of these humanitarian topics and co create a world that works for everyone.” Susan Leger-Ferraro, Humanitarian/Founder/CEO