We Are All Diverse
It feels a little trite to write but we are all diverse.
In fact, if someone is speaking on diversity as something outside of themselves, it feels to me almost rooted in white supremacy; like ‘Oh, let’s work on making this place more diverse because it’s been so homogeneous and really we didn’t mind that until that gatekeeping got canceled.’ And to be fair, many of us perhaps didn’t realize we were gatekeeping until we’ve been made aware.
We Are Waking Up
And now that we are waking up to what a truly inclusive world looks like as we recognize the myriad of experiences that make up the human condition, let’s try to activate actually doing things differently in each small circle we can.
Since many of our cultures have racism, sexism, ableism and well, all the -isms, basically baked into the bedrock of our current human experiences, it may seem almost impossible to actually create a diverse world that totally removes the power over dynamic that any -ism seeks to create. This is where I love to not only theorize on solutions but also actualize them into activated conversations that affect social change.
I’ve often been called the sledge hammer in most of my collaborative circles ( cue Peter Gabriel ) because theoretical, armchair conversations on changing the status quo bores me to pieces.
It’s action that makes a damn difference.
In my many collaborations in conversations with thought leaders, industry disruptors and business activists globally these past two years, I have garnered that the world is ready for a new way of considering the diversity of our shared human existence; in a nutshell we are all very different but also very same. Whilst our differences make our outlooks unique and thereby valuable, we all bleed red ya’ll.
How can we actually do something about this wake up call?
What we are building through the LBI Digital Ecosystem is more than just various channels where we connect with Women globally; more than a podcast, a blog or a new way of doing social media.
We are looking directly at ways that we can pull back the curtain on how we have historically done business and flip the script on how we are sharing our tools & resources.
And we cannot just do that by using old models of production, of tech and thereby use of the digital world. Our approach is directly aimed at equipping more women with access to information around money, sex & politics because we know that when Women have more knowledge, this equates to more power. And when Women are more supported, the entire village thrives. And as many of you know, it takes a village to raise anything or anyone up. When Women rise, humanity rises. Again, our differences can create the great equalizer needed so desperately in our world today.
As Women in business, we have an inherent ability to see many facets of a big picture. We can stitch together a network of community through our generations of women leaning into another for support in any facet of humaning; be it child rearing or idea sourcing, meal prep or logistics, long hugs or quick side eyes. Women work quickly to offer outside of the box solutions to big & small problems alike.
Many men will tell you, Women have a unique way to handle even the most daunting challenge. And so as we lean back into embracing our own differences as strengths, I wonder how we can also learn more from the diversity of emotions all humans can feel as a result of accessing more of our passionate or female side. Some may call this being ‘too emotional’. May I suggest it is actually being more human than robotic. Emotions are helpful and show our diversity of emotional intelligence.
A good cry or long embrace isn’t showing weakness, it’s showing connection. That diversity of emotional experience can truly change an otherwise numb human existence into a fully feeling & actualized human moment; even if it’s totally different than your go to feels of ‘powering through’, ‘getting shit done’ or otherwise operating in full logic instead of from the heart. Also, no one ever said they felt worse after a good cry. Just sayn’ !!
Easily noticed but a much more challenging lesson I’ve been learning about having to suit up daily as a Women in tech, is to be more bold than I’ve ever been with my idea of using tech to build bridges of diversity; tucking away my often more emotional side and leaning across the isle to learn other languages of business, art and leadership.
Embracing Diversity
With intersectionality at the forefront of the digital ecosystem we are building, it has become one of my biggest lessons learned to embrace the diversity around me instead of shunning it as something I can’t learn to lean into, even as someone who thought I was so ‘open minded’ and willing to learn new things. That is to say, as a leader of new ways of embracing tech, I cannot simply shun old ways of thinking. I have to learn from and then build better. That old adage of not throwing the baby out with the bathwater has never rang more true. By the way, who throws babies out anyways??
Notably, all big, global tech to date has been built by one particular sector of humanity, white men. Simply based on their experiences alone, that specific tech ( any of it arguably, from Facebook to Twitter, LinkedIn to Apple) has not been built in consideration of the diverse voices of ALL humans including, Women of all skin tones and gender identities, humans of varying accessibility and socio economic status.
What we are building through LBI is a way to utilize all the incredible resources that modern technology offers us in a way that authentically honors diversity instead of segregating it out of the equation. We aim to connect the many incredible communities of Women forward movements like Women owned & operated banking platforms like Elle Vest , access to health & wellness resources that Planned Parenthood purveys through the SuperMajority Education Fund, and the leaders of democracy at League of Women Voters .
All these groups separately aim to lean into the diversity of tools & resources our shared human experience calls for. We are working to activate all these thought leaders together by way of our global hub for Women who seek to live in a recognizably diverse, kindly celebrated, most equitable world.
Will you join us?
Come Backstage & help us change the world.
Love,
Rose Kaz
More About Rose Kaz:
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Rose Kaz is the Fem Founder and she’s done this a time or two. Her photo & video production company has taken her around the world but her new app allows her female clients & even women she hasn’t met yet to lean into each other, learn about our opportunity as business activists to support, grow & shop directly from one another. We are building a new economy, globally. WOW!
And the app we are talking about is that which Rose + the LBI Crew has launched where the ask for women is to: ‘ take center stage in their lives; to stand up, speak out & get GLOWING like never before’ Think activism meets B school meets super hip, online resource center! Sprinkle in some new school networking and POW The LBI Backstage Pass is #trending!
Click here to come Backstage, meet Rose and the entire community of femme forward leaders.