The end of the conference...

...but the beginning of action steps.

We've heard about the gender gaps, we've seen the research, we know the business case, we've learned what other countries have done to close gender gaps. Now it is up to everyone to make sure that other people know about these gaps--and that we take concrete steps to close them.

What will you do?









Thank you so much to conference chairs Iris Bohnet, Laura Liswood and Saadia Zahidi. Thank you to the Women and Public Policy Program at HKS and to the Council of Women World Leaders staffs. It was a privilege to be a part of the program and to share my thoughts over the past two days. I hope that it was helpful--and more importantly, I hope that you feel galvanized to action.

Ask What You Can Do

We heard a lot today about the research, the reasons behind, the power dynamics, and the realities of gender gaps in business, in politics, in wealth and across countries. I want to bring us back to Marie Wilson’s point: what are we going to do about it?

We have another day, to be sure. And tomorrow’s panels promise to reveal even more—we may not all aspire to political positions, know much about development, or even have control over financial decision making (although Davia Temin may have us thinking differently about how important this is) but we will all at one point or another, be a part of an organization and a team. Tomorrow’s panels and panelists speak directly to this aspect of our lives.

I want the conference to go on beyond tomorrow, though.

While speaking about this with Julia Dulan of Southern Company and Allison Muehlenbeck, a fellow MPP student, we decided to propose the following idea to the participants of this conference and to readers of this blog…

A pledge to take concrete, specific action within a specified time frame after the conference closes tomorrow. As the variety of panel themes shows, we come from many different industries, so this concrete action will likely take many different forms. However, we need to capitalize on the potential multiplier effect that comes with having an exceptional, smart, motivated group of people use the gendered data and stories discussed here today to turn friends into activists and associates into allies.

Maybe it’s hokey. But it’s one way to move beyond talk. And as someone who worked in the DC advocacy community prior to coming to graduate school, I know you can’t miss the opportunity to make the ask. If every single person in this room commits to take at least one concrete step that works to address one of the gender gaps we talked about today, we move the agenda forward.

I pledge, before October ends, to convene a similar group of young women, from across the graduate schools in the Boston area, to get together and discuss what action steps we will take on each of our own campuses. I see a need for more young(ish) women to take ownership of closing the global gender gap—and I see a lack of collaboration between sectors starting even at these early stages in our careers. I want to do something concrete about it.

In the spirit of John F. Kennedy and the school he inspired: what can you do?

Please feel free to share below!

Introducing the Student Blogger at the Conference

My name is Varina Winder and I am a second year student in the Masters in Public Policy program here at Harvard's Kennedy School. I am also the co-chair for the Women and Gender Caucus at HKS, an auditor in Iris Bohnet's Closing the Global Gender Gap class, and a summer 2010 recipient of the Roy Family Fellowship. I spent the Fellowship with Catalyst, writing a white paper on creating Employee Resource Groups for women talent in Latin American businesses (the blog for which can be found here).

I was absolutely thrilled to receive an invitation from the Women and Public Policy Program (or WAPPP, as it is affectionately known)--both to the Business Case Conference itself and to sharing my thoughts on the conference's progression via this blog. In the interest of full disclosure, I am very much interested in the nexus of gender, business, policy and politics and I bring a heavy bias with me to the conference.

I absolutely believe that there is not only a moral and ethical case for bringing gender and diversity to organizations, politics and societal discussions, but that there is also a business case. Thus, the conference, to me, will serve as a way to provide additional evidence for my convictions and to hear the thoughts of people from a variety of backgrounds--from Goldman Sachs to the World Economic Forum to academia to the White House Project. I am also excited to see my summer boss, Ilene Lang, and to meet some of my biggest role models (including, hopefully, Laura Liswood, the Secretary General for the Council of Women World Leaders and one of the Conference Chairs).

I will be posting my thoughts and reactions to the panel discussions and overall conference over the next two days. Thanks for staying tuned!