Enough grief; time to empower women
Enough wallowing in disbelief, shock and grief over the US Election results. It’s time get up, get going and get global impact as we continue to smash glass ceilings and empower women around the globe.
Take a global view
Yes, let’s shift our focus from the US to the global arena. Here’s why:
- Discrimination against women exists all round the world and we are in a position to help — and making a difference feels damn good when we’ve been knocked back.
- We are much more powerful if we think, act, and play bigger: if we work on the global playing field, it gets us out of narrowing our horizons, focusing on what’s right in front of us – and getting lost in the merry-go-round/carousel of grief, and shock and blame and anger.
- We can have a bigger impact globally, which will ultimately lead to positive change a back home.
We lost this round and it hurts like hell, but now’s the time to figure out how to make an impact. Now is the time to use that energy and emotion as fuel to drive us forward.
Yes, we are downcast, we are sore, we are bruised and weary, but we are not done.
So, even though it hurts, it’s time to get up, to get strategic, get smart and to make a difference. No one is going to rescue you. It is time to rescue ourselves. It’s time to be the heroes we long for.
Remember The Matrix? The scene: hero Trinity is being chased by enemy Agents. She flies through a window, falls down a stair case and lands on her back, guns drawn. Exhausted, breathless and aching, she commands herself to get up, and in seconds she’s back on her feet and getting away from capture, to live, fight, and win another day.
Let’s follow her lead. We know from experience that winners maintain focus on their end goal, don’t give up easily, and focus on long term gain. Let’s do the same.
In short, for now let’s forget Trump and focus on how we can move the needle on women’s empowerment around the world.
Three actions you can take to make a difference today:
Buy goods and services from women-owned enterprises.
It’s the holiday season, and no doubt you will go shopping anyway, so why not use that opportunity to support women in business. Shop with purpose. How about you take up the challenge to buy 16 items or services from women-owned businesses in 2016. The #Buy16in16 campaign is spearheaded by WEConnect International, a global network that empowers women business owners to create valuable trading partnerships and access multinational corporation procurement opportunities. Whenever you buy a women-owned product, tweet a photo with the tag #Buy16in16, include a photo. WEConnect International will recognize everyone who reaches or passes the goal of 16 on their website and social media accounts. And I’d love to know too, of course! (@Juliet_LB)
Loan$25 or more to a women entrepreneur in a developing country.
Kiva makes this a snap for you to do – hop onto their site and with a small loan of $25 (or more) that can help her start, or grow, her enterprise. You can choose to help who ever you want: for instance you could help a woman in Africa start a basket weaving enterprise or a rural farmer in India learn to make a business selling goat’s cheese. At the end of the loan you can decide to keep the money – or roll it over as a loan for another woman in business.
Mentor a women business owner to take her to next level.
Mentoring is a powerful way to empower women in business with the skills, opportunities and strategies they need to take their enterprise to the next level. And mentors know that they gain a huge amount of insight, ideas, energy and different perspectives that help them continue to build their success too. I work with the Social Enterprise Sisterhood to matches international business mentors to women in Africa who want to take their business to the next level – early results from the pilot phase show that it’s effective. Let me know if you’d like to be involved.
If you want an even bigger global impact
You can link to a global campaign, advocate for policy change, or unleash your own global impact strategy. If you’d like some support in getting started, let me know and I’ll send you some free resources and guidance to get on the road to lasting global impact.
#Connect2Empower #SocialEnterpriseSisterhood #WESAZimbabwe #Sister2Sister #ImpactNotFluff #GlobalImpact #empowerabillion #EBWLegacy #StrongerTogether