[Music]
two years ago I gave a talk to some
schoolchildren and they were aged 4 to
11 years old and during my diversity
talk I asked them the question how many
of you think the role of a judge is a
man’s role 99% of them put their hands
up I then proceeded to ask how many of
you think the role of a lawyer a CEO a
manager is a man’s role the same
response they all thought these roles
were performed by men and not women when
I inform them that these roles were
actually performed by men and women they
were shocked surprised and I was just as
shocked and surprised because I couldn’t
believe that children as young as four
years old could not believe that a woman
could perform these roles and this
highlighted the need when we talk about
diversity this highlighted the
importance of actually having our
conversation start early on and with our
next generation now I’ve been involved
with diversity for 10 20 years now
helping to try to close the diversity
gap and one of the crucial questions
which still remains is how can we close
the diversity gap at a faster pace while
helping to change the world at a faster
pace for the better to now for those of
you who are not familiar with the term
diversity an example is where you have a
man and a woman and they are performing
the same roles but yet the man is
getting paid more than
the woman there is something in the UK
will cost the world called the gender
pay gap and in the UK the gender pay gap
date is on the 10th of November and this
year it was the 10th of November 2018
and this date is when women essentially
work for free this is where they are not
getting paid the same as men and there
are different reasons for this sometimes
this is when men and women are
performing the same roles but other
times this is where men and women are
performing different roles at different
levels and this is where the gender
diversity gap comes into play where men
have more senior roles than females
there are some statistics in the u.s.
that show that one in five women are in
senior management roles one in 25 women
of color who look like me
are in senior management roles so when
we talk about diversity we’re not just
talking about gender we’re talking about
race we’re talking about disability
we’re talking about age LGBT social
mobility and so on now in the UK I get
asked to appear on many UK breakfast
primetime shows and in the news as well
to talk about diversity and to offer my
opinions on how can we close the gap at
a faster pace there are two steps that I
will share with you today
and the first one is to engage our next
generation the second is for us to
engage men it’s for us to engage
everyone in the solution now one of the
things that I did was launched a
foundation a few years ago over three
years ago and it’s called the miranda
brawn diversity leadership
Foundation and what we do we help to
close the diversity gap we help to work
with our next generation of leaders we
give scholarships and we have our
scholarship leaders on the on the photos
now but we within the scholarships it’s
not just funding it’s work experience
it’s providing mentorship and scholar
and sponsorship as well these are all
very important things in order for our
next generation to succeed and it’s been
proven very successful in terms of
building their confidence having them
have the self believed to know that when
you look at a four year old or a four to
11 year old who doesn’t believe that
they can succeed or become a judge or a
lawyer it’s giving them the confidence
and give and showing them who the role
models are because if you don’t see
people doing these roles especially
women it’s hard to visualize that you
can become that as well so we also help
from that situation but the main idea
today is equality it is to help promote
an equal and diverse workforce and this
is one of the ways in how we can help
close the diversity gap so I’d mentioned
the statistics in terms of one in five
women are in senior management positions
and you might be asking yourself well
why is this important for me why should
I get involved it’s not just the right
thing to do but it is fast becoming one
of the only things for us to do to help
change the world and close the diversity
gap it is together that we can make this
difference it is not just for those who
are activists and publicly talking about
diversity but each and every one of us
can think about how can we make a
difference and there are many ways and
and researches show
but when you empower women when you
empower people of color when you empower
people who are from an LGBT background
when you empower people that are from a
diverse background it helps to transform
societies and when you lift women and
people of color and other some diverse
societies you help to lift humanity and
that is very important how many of you
here in the audience have sisters
daughters friends that have daughters
godmothers got daughters mothers raise
your hands how many people do exactly we
are all affected we are all affected by
gender diversity and it is so important
for us to help to make that difference
nearly 50% of the world’s population are
women so if we help each and every one
of us if we help to close the diversity
gap and if we help women and others from
diverse communities succeed we’re
actually helping not only for global
economy but we’re helping with the world
and making the world become a better
place for the four on a positive basis
now you might be asking yourself now
well how can I make a difference I don’t
have time I’m not an activist I can’t
launch a foundation how can I make a
difference well the first step to any
issue is to acknowledge that there is an
issue and then it’s to talk about it
it’s to have these conversations it’s to
have these conversations and it doesn’t
have to start in the workplace or in
your educational environment if you’re
still at university or at school but
it’s to have these conversations with
your friends and family
and what are your views on diversity do
you agree that what ideas do you have if
you can help one person after today just
one person if you can perform just one
kind deed you are helping to close the
diversity gap you are helping to make
that difference and that is so important
so I had mentioned that there are two
steps to help close the diversity gap
and the first step was to help the next
generation and through my foundation we
have helped to raise the self belief and
confidence with our next generation to
the point where they weren’t able to get
jobs or they weren’t sure in terms of
what qualifications they should be
aiming for and it’s highlighting who are
the role models what sector what
industry do you want to get into let
let’s help you become a success but not
only that the foundation that we have is
also to raise the diversity issues that
we have within the workplace and it’s to
listen to our next generation and it’s
to say to our next generation we know
that there is a pipeline issue and the
reason why I launched the foundation was
because there were lots of organized
organizations who were focused on how
can we close the diversity gap who is
already in the existing workforce and
how can we help to close that gap with
our current employees and one of the
ideas that I had is that if we have a
talent pipeline issue we need to start
before they enter the workplace we need
to go back to those that are at
university those that are still at
school the four year olds and we need to
help raise their aspirations we need to
change those beliefs and this is what
the foundation is doing so we need to
change the beliefs from where a four
year old believes that they can’t become
a lawyer or a judge – that they can and
a simple example happened today it
a friend of mine is in the audience and
I gave her daughter today a doll and it
was a doll
that looks like her it was the dawn of
color but it was a doll that was a
scientist as well and when I gave her
the doll she was so excited and it
warmed my heart and I said to her do you
know that women can become scientists
too and guess what her response was yes
and I just thought wow we’re changing
the diversity this is how we can close
the diversity gap from just sending out
these messages it can happen in the
playground it can happen in the homes by
just giving the next generation giving a
child a doll and it can happen to boys
as well not just girls where you can
show the boys that girls can also become
scientists so that once they enter
secondary school University this is
something that’s a reality so one of the
other things that I do is that I give
various talks to lots of schools
universities and organizations and I
attend lots of diversity events not just
gender diversity events but events
relating to race and LGBT and and so on
and then the second step in order to
help to close the diversity gap at a
faster pace and to help to change the
world is to involve men now when I
attend diversity events for example when
I the last gender diversity when I
attended I was actually a speaker and I
spoke at UK Parliament and I spoke for
their women’s networking group and the
chair of that women’s networking group
was a man now this is a different way
this is a way of doing things
differently because usually when I go to
women’s networking groups the chair is
female but this is a way where we can in
clewd men into this this is not just a
women’s issue this is not just an issue
where women or people of color are
having to figure out how do we close the
diversity gap the only way that we can
do this is together with each and every
one of us
so with this gender diversity gap and
when I talk at various diversity events
I like to count how many men are in the
room
and nine times out of ten when I do give
a talk and there are women in the room
there are only a handful of men so it’s
important for us to include men invite
them to these events find out what their
ideas are we all have male mentors who
can help to change the behaviors of in
the workplace all of this is important
I’ve had male mentors who have helped me
who have hired me promoted me and who
have helped me succeed I think it’s
through including men how we can really
help to make a difference now helping
one person or one next generation or one
woman or one person of color or one
person for a diverse background that’s
not going to change the world
but it will change the world for that
one person and if we think about one of
the world’s pressing needs at the moment
is justice and equality how can we close
this diversity gap at a faster pace and
help to change the world at a faster
pace it is through together this it is
through each and every one of us through
one kind deed at a time through helping
just one person at a time that is how
we’re going to help to close that
diversity gap and this is regardless of
your gender your sex your race your
social background your disability
regardless of that this is how we are
going to change the world and we all
have a voice and we all have the power
to make a difference and to help change
the world
so why not join us and be part of that
solution thank you so much [Applause]
two years ago I gave a talk to some
schoolchildren and they were aged 4 to
11 years old and during my diversity
talk I asked them the question how many
of you think the role of a judge is a
man’s role 99% of them put their hands
up I then proceeded to ask how many of
you think the role of a lawyer a CEO a
manager is a man’s role the same
response they all thought these roles
were performed by men and not women when
I inform them that these roles were
actually performed by men and women they
were shocked surprised and I was just as
shocked and surprised because I couldn’t
believe that children as young as four
years old could not believe that a woman
could perform these roles and this
highlighted the need when we talk about
diversity this highlighted the
importance of actually having our
conversation start early on and with our
next generation now I’ve been involved
with diversity for 10 20 years now
helping to try to close the diversity
gap and one of the crucial questions
which still remains is how can we close
the diversity gap at a faster pace while
helping to change the world at a faster
pace for the better to now for those of
you who are not familiar with the term
diversity an example is where you have a
man and a woman and they are performing
the same roles but yet the man is
getting paid more than
the woman there is something in the UK
will cost the world called the gender
pay gap and in the UK the gender pay gap
date is on the 10th of November and this
year it was the 10th of November 2018
and this date is when women essentially
work for free this is where they are not
getting paid the same as men and there
are different reasons for this sometimes
this is when men and women are
performing the same roles but other
times this is where men and women are
performing different roles at different
levels and this is where the gender
diversity gap comes into play where men
have more senior roles than females
there are some statistics in the u.s.
that show that one in five women are in
senior management roles one in 25 women
of color who look like me
are in senior management roles so when
we talk about diversity we’re not just
talking about gender we’re talking about
race we’re talking about disability
we’re talking about age LGBT social
mobility and so on now in the UK I get
asked to appear on many UK breakfast
primetime shows and in the news as well
to talk about diversity and to offer my
opinions on how can we close the gap at
a faster pace there are two steps that I
will share with you today
and the first one is to engage our next
generation the second is for us to
engage men it’s for us to engage
everyone in the solution now one of the
things that I did was launched a
foundation a few years ago over three
years ago and it’s called the miranda
brawn diversity leadership
Foundation and what we do we help to
close the diversity gap we help to work
with our next generation of leaders we
give scholarships and we have our
scholarship leaders on the on the photos
now but we within the scholarships it’s
not just funding it’s work experience
it’s providing mentorship and scholar
and sponsorship as well these are all
very important things in order for our
next generation to succeed and it’s been
proven very successful in terms of
building their confidence having them
have the self believed to know that when
you look at a four year old or a four to
11 year old who doesn’t believe that
they can succeed or become a judge or a
lawyer it’s giving them the confidence
and give and showing them who the role
models are because if you don’t see
people doing these roles especially
women it’s hard to visualize that you
can become that as well so we also help
from that situation but the main idea
today is equality it is to help promote
an equal and diverse workforce and this
is one of the ways in how we can help
close the diversity gap so I’d mentioned
the statistics in terms of one in five
women are in senior management positions
and you might be asking yourself well
why is this important for me why should
I get involved it’s not just the right
thing to do but it is fast becoming one
of the only things for us to do to help
change the world and close the diversity
gap it is together that we can make this
difference it is not just for those who
are activists and publicly talking about
diversity but each and every one of us
can think about how can we make a
difference and there are many ways and
and researches show
but when you empower women when you
empower people of color when you empower
people who are from an LGBT background
when you empower people that are from a
diverse background it helps to transform
societies and when you lift women and
people of color and other some diverse
societies you help to lift humanity and
that is very important how many of you
here in the audience have sisters
daughters friends that have daughters
godmothers got daughters mothers raise
your hands how many people do exactly we
are all affected we are all affected by
gender diversity and it is so important
for us to help to make that difference
nearly 50% of the world’s population are
women so if we help each and every one
of us if we help to close the diversity
gap and if we help women and others from
diverse communities succeed we’re
actually helping not only for global
economy but we’re helping with the world
and making the world become a better
place for the four on a positive basis
now you might be asking yourself now
well how can I make a difference I don’t
have time I’m not an activist I can’t
launch a foundation how can I make a
difference well the first step to any
issue is to acknowledge that there is an
issue and then it’s to talk about it
it’s to have these conversations it’s to
have these conversations and it doesn’t
have to start in the workplace or in
your educational environment if you’re
still at university or at school but
it’s to have these conversations with
your friends and family
and what are your views on diversity do
you agree that what ideas do you have if
you can help one person after today just
one person if you can perform just one
kind deed you are helping to close the
diversity gap you are helping to make
that difference and that is so important
so I had mentioned that there are two
steps to help close the diversity gap
and the first step was to help the next
generation and through my foundation we
have helped to raise the self belief and
confidence with our next generation to
the point where they weren’t able to get
jobs or they weren’t sure in terms of
what qualifications they should be
aiming for and it’s highlighting who are
the role models what sector what
industry do you want to get into let
let’s help you become a success but not
only that the foundation that we have is
also to raise the diversity issues that
we have within the workplace and it’s to
listen to our next generation and it’s
to say to our next generation we know
that there is a pipeline issue and the
reason why I launched the foundation was
because there were lots of organized
organizations who were focused on how
can we close the diversity gap who is
already in the existing workforce and
how can we help to close that gap with
our current employees and one of the
ideas that I had is that if we have a
talent pipeline issue we need to start
before they enter the workplace we need
to go back to those that are at
university those that are still at
school the four year olds and we need to
help raise their aspirations we need to
change those beliefs and this is what
the foundation is doing so we need to
change the beliefs from where a four
year old believes that they can’t become
a lawyer or a judge – that they can and
a simple example happened today it
a friend of mine is in the audience and
I gave her daughter today a doll and it
was a doll
that looks like her it was the dawn of
color but it was a doll that was a
scientist as well and when I gave her
the doll she was so excited and it
warmed my heart and I said to her do you
know that women can become scientists
too and guess what her response was yes
and I just thought wow we’re changing
the diversity this is how we can close
the diversity gap from just sending out
these messages it can happen in the
playground it can happen in the homes by
just giving the next generation giving a
child a doll and it can happen to boys
as well not just girls where you can
show the boys that girls can also become
scientists so that once they enter
secondary school University this is
something that’s a reality so one of the
other things that I do is that I give
various talks to lots of schools
universities and organizations and I
attend lots of diversity events not just
gender diversity events but events
relating to race and LGBT and and so on
and then the second step in order to
help to close the diversity gap at a
faster pace and to help to change the
world is to involve men now when I
attend diversity events for example when
I the last gender diversity when I
attended I was actually a speaker and I
spoke at UK Parliament and I spoke for
their women’s networking group and the
chair of that women’s networking group
was a man now this is a different way
this is a way of doing things
differently because usually when I go to
women’s networking groups the chair is
female but this is a way where we can in
clewd men into this this is not just a
women’s issue this is not just an issue
where women or people of color are
having to figure out how do we close the
diversity gap the only way that we can
do this is together with each and every
one of us
so with this gender diversity gap and
when I talk at various diversity events
I like to count how many men are in the
room
and nine times out of ten when I do give
a talk and there are women in the room
there are only a handful of men so it’s
important for us to include men invite
them to these events find out what their
ideas are we all have male mentors who
can help to change the behaviors of in
the workplace all of this is important
I’ve had male mentors who have helped me
who have hired me promoted me and who
have helped me succeed I think it’s
through including men how we can really
help to make a difference now helping
one person or one next generation or one
woman or one person of color or one
person for a diverse background that’s
not going to change the world
but it will change the world for that
one person and if we think about one of
the world’s pressing needs at the moment
is justice and equality how can we close
this diversity gap at a faster pace and
help to change the world at a faster
pace it is through together this it is
through each and every one of us through
one kind deed at a time through helping
just one person at a time that is how
we’re going to help to close that
diversity gap and this is regardless of
your gender your sex your race your
social background your disability
regardless of that this is how we are
going to change the world and we all
have a voice and we all have the power
to make a difference and to help change
the world
so why not join us and be part of that
solution thank you so much [Applause]
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