Empowering future women leaders

“Diversity is like being invited to a party, inclusiveness is when you are invited to dance”. This sums up what Homeward Bound means to me. It is a vision to empower more women to be leaders in our world – in science and engineering, in business and economics. Today in UK, the representation of women in executive management teams of top companies is 12%[1], while in South Asia the female/male ratio in leadership positions is 0.0762[2]. Independent of geography, the unappreciated fact is that women’s opinions are often not heard at the highest levels of decision making. It is time more women are included in the decisions that influence the future of our planet – whether it is a pharmaceutical company deciding on future therapy areas, or political heads setting foreign policy and relationships with other countries. We have few examples of women in such roles but the overall representation continues to be abysmally low. According to the UN, currently only 10 women are Heads of Government across the globe. Among the Fortune 500 companies, women currently hold only 5% of the CEO positions[3]. This is unfortunate as the companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns that are above their national industry median[1].

Homeward Bound is a women leadership program across 10 months which selects 80 women globally for each cohort. It aims to build a 1,000 strong global collaboration of women in science over the next 10 years, to network and skill women, set against the backdrop of Antarctica. The initiative, turned global movement, aims to heighten the influence and impact of women in leadership positions to influence policy and decision making as it shapes our planet. The program’s focus is on leadership training, collaborative learning and finding personal inspiration. I am proud to be selected as part of the 2018 cohort and excited about the journey of exploration ahead! I will be documenting my journey, blogging and sharing my reflections going forward. As they say, a journey of thousand miles begins with one step!!

1 Why diversity matters, McKinsey & Company, Jan 2015

2 Power of Parity – India, Mckinsey & Company, Nov 2015

3 Fortune Knowledge Group, Women in C-Suite, Mar 2017