July 29th 2023.
Women in leadership roles unfortunately face many biases that impede their success in the workplace. The American Association of University Women (AAUW) reported that old biases that favor masculine leadership traits are still present and have a negative effect on women's performance. Women of color face even more obstacles, with the Center for American Progress reporting that Black women lose out on an estimated $964,400 over a 40-year career.
In response to these unacceptable inequalities, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson recently announced the Austin Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) task force. According to The Austin Chronicle, the task force aims to provide women with access to entrepreneurial spaces by creating programs, access to higher education, and business partnerships.
Leading the task force is Carla McDonald, founder and managing director of the investment firm Dynabrand Ventures. Other members include Lauren Washington, co-founder of the AI investing platform Fundr; Cristina Silingardi, former VP of consulting firm vcfo; Jan Ryan, founder of consulting practice 3Hills Group; and Mellie Price, founder of investment firm Purposeful Capital. Additional members will be added in the future.
Washington spoke on the experience of being a woman in a leadership role and how AWE will support women seeking leadership. She said, “There are very specific things that you experience as a woman in this industry, and as a woman of color in this industry, that you need to have support in order to navigate. Generalized advice is not going to necessarily help me move forward, so being able to create community and resources to navigate a system that wasn’t necessarily made for you is incredibly important.”
Washington added that the task force is “really about creating a more even playing field for people so that they have the opportunity to bring their dreams to life.” She and Watson view Austin, Texas, as a great place for networking and abundant resources for female entrepreneurs; however, they understand that there are still obstacles women have to overcome.
In a statement, Watson said, “We’re shifting Austin’s economic development paradigm to be unapologetically focused on helping all Austinites be a part of the prosperity of our city. That includes making Austin the best city in the world for women entrepreneurs to start and build businesses.” She has aspirations for the task force to address additional concerns such as child care in order to achieve the goals for the Austin economy.
It is clear that the Austin Women Entrepreneurs task force is an important and necessary step in the right direction to combat the inequalities in leadership that women and people of color face. It is our hope that this task force will inspire more programs to help support and empower women, especially in leadership roles.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
