The International Women’s Day community explains the importance of this day: “Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias”.
At Capitalise, we’ve committed to celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness against bias and taking action for equality. In 2021, we started our own Women’s Network and have since made this community part of our fabric as a business.
Kayleigh Graham, our API Partner Success Lead, is the woman behind the network, taking the initiative to set it up last year.
"When we started discussing the possibility of launching a Women's Network, it was really important for us to define what our mission really is, Kayleigh explains. “We want to empower the women of Capitalise to achieve success – whatever that means to them individually. To provide opportunities for women to connect and support each other. To both signpost and deliver education and access to opportunities that contribute to the personal and professional development of our members, meeting their needs at the right time and in the right way.”
Here are some of the things we’ve been up to:
1. Unstoppable Together networking event
We hosted an event focused on the purpose and power of having a Women’s Network. The session provided a space where everyone could talk openly and be heard. Where colleagues could share their own experiences and talk about challenges they’ve faced.
The women of Capitalise found the event really refreshing, commenting on how good it was to see men from the business getting involved too. zThis is a real driver of cultural change within our team.
Marcus Batson, Funding Specialist, says
“The Women’s Network has been eye-opening. It’s great to understand the issues faced and try to unlock better collaboration and opportunity for everyone involved”.
2. Lunch and Learns: exploring invisible biases
Setting aside judgement and having honest conversations about invisible biases women face in both personal and professional settings is key for education. Although sometimes uncomfortable, owning up to personal biases or talking about personal experiences can be therapeutic for women and men alike.
Often in corporate environments, women can face isolation and exclusion including ongoing gender pay gaps, sexual harassment, discrimination and having limited female role models.
Having Lunch and Learn sessions focused on this issue was powerful. The purpose was to open up the conversation for people to have a better understanding of the unconscious biases they may have. And to encourage conscious change.
Iona Brooks, Funding Specialist at Capitalise, says that the sessions hosted by the Women's Network have been “both thought provoking and insightful, where you can hear everyone else’s experience and opinions. Which often vary.” She mentioned how discussions encouraged her to to look at situations from a different perspective.
3. Themed weeks
Confidence came out as something the women of Capitalise wanted to discuss, improve and work on. So we organised a Supercharge Your Confidence. Week which included watching Ted talks, encouraging daily affirmations and trying new things.
Themed weeks can be a great interactive way to dedicate time to the issues and topics most important to the women in our business. The nature of themed weeks is fun and gets everyone involved, often encouraging more honest communication and where everyone is welcome to express their thoughts and feelings.
4. Encouraging education
Being a part of our Women's Network is a great opportunity to learn from the thoughts and experiences of others. We enhance this experience by recommending further reading on relevant topics, inviting guest speakers to Capitalise and encouraging our team to attend external events.
If you’d like to find out more about what it’s like to work at Capitalise or you already know you’d like to join our team, take a look at our job openings.
