In the 10 years I’ve been running Ginger I’ve often noticed a trend – women are the last to put themselves forward for speaking opportunities, but are so often the most inspiring and connective speakers when they do.
We all know that there are a lack of senior women in most industries. And we all know women consistently undervalue themselves and their expertise. This is reflected in the Gender ‘Say’ Gap, the gap we consistently see in women being seen and heard.
Times are beginning to change and across many industries from finance, to tech, to energy, conference organisers are asking me where are all the female leaders? I hear from them that when they do ask women to speak, they say no, or recommend ‘the expert’, who’s usually a man.
So, I’m doing my bit to redress the balance, by starting my Wall of Women, which showcases inspiring female leaders who I’ve had the privilege to directly get to know.
These are women from a variety of backgrounds who can actively demonstrate that they’re visionary leaders, who have visions for positive change and who use their voice to speak in public as role models and advocates for change.
Our first 10 women are entering the Wall of Women this International Women’s Day – and we’ll keep adding women as we find them.
They include:
- The Managing Partner at a consultancy firm who discovered that both her son and she are autistic – and has since set up a campaign around neurodiversity.
- The lady who’s using data to solve global poverty
- The social entrepreneur who’s rehabilitating prison inmates using coaching
- The energy cooperative founder who has the local solution to our national energy crisis
- A social ‘intrapreneur’ who’s changing her bank from the inside out
… and many more inspiring women.
Please browse their profiles and contact them to support their work or invite them to speak.
These ladies are all part of the Game Changers Women’s Leadership Network, a not-for-profit group aimed at female leaders who are actively involved with bringing about positive change in their company, community or beyond.
If you’d like to nominate someone as a Game Changing female leader, please drop me a line. I may even feature them in a future update of the Wall of Women.
You can also find out more about our Women’s Leadership courses here.
Sarah Lloyd-Hughes
The UK’s leading inspiring speaking expert & best-selling author. Sarah Lloyd-Hughes is a multiple-award winning public speaking coach, founder of Ginger and author of “How to be Brilliant at Public Speaking” (Pearson).
