Women are still fighting for the right to vote in the 21stCentury. Women in Saudi Arabia won the right to vote with women casting votes for the first time on Saturday, December 12, 2015. Saudi Arabia is the last major country to allow women to vote. It is 2015! Now they want the right to drive a car.
The movie Suffragette, the story of women earning the right to vote in the UK was not a box office sensation. British women fought hard amid violence to get the right to vote in 1928. Women in the US fought, were jailed and intimidated before we got the right to vote in 1920. Read more about women suffrage at National Women’s History Museum, an online museum that is struggling for support for a location on the national mall in Washington, D.C.
In 1988, HR 5050 passed and eliminated laws in states where banks required a male to sign for a loan for a woman owned business. 1988!
Too few women are represented on corporate boards. Studies show companies with women on their boards out perform those who do not. Twitter has been widely criticized for not having women on their board or in their leadership. Boards that set targets of 25% women are missing the point. We are 50% of the population.
Let this be a year of change for women worldwide. Our leadership and perspective is needed at this time more than ever. Be part of the change. Show your leadership. Support women in leadership roles. How would things be different if women shared equally in leadership roles with men, with both perspectives valued and consensus built? How might things be different?
Let’s have a year of change with more women in leadership.
Best, Kay