Around the world, women and girls face barriers to their education. Because of this, their job opportunities are restricted. Their economic, physical and mental wellbeing is compromised. And this not just a problem for women. Where gender inequality exists, the quality of life for everyone in that community can be affected.

The good news is, when this gender imbalance is reduced, good things can begin to flow for all.

As the UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell recently said, “The world’s 600 million adolescent girls have shown time and time again that given the skills and the opportunities, they can be the changemakers driving progress in their communities, building back stronger for all, including women, boys and men.”

It’s such a simple cause and effect. An idea so inspiring that we just knew we had to share it at our first Change Makers event.

Elston’s Head of Philanthropic Services Susan Chenoweth led the discussion, and invited three amazing women to join her panel.

Julie Reilly

Julie is the CEO of Australians Investing in Women (AIIW), a leading NFP that encourages all Australians to apply a gender lens to their giving, a multi-award winner and proud mum of two intelligent and compassionate daughters.

Tanya Meessmann

As the founder of Girl Shaped Flames and CEO of UNIQ You, Tanya is a mentor on a mission. By developing confident and courageous girls, she is making a change in Australia that will be transformative for future generations.

Victoria Parker

Victoria is CEO of The Lady Musgrave Trust. She is working for a world where women are free from homelessness. Knowing that violence often pushes women and children from their homes, she is determined to drive change in this area.

Bringing these women together provided a rare combination of unique perspectives on intersecting issues. The discussion was fascinating and free flowing. Too dynamic to capture every exchange. But to give you a sense of the main points from the night, we’ve included some key excerpts in this article.

Susan:
I’d like to open our discussion tonight with an observation on what’s happening in Australia today. It feels like gender equality really is front of mind, and we’re perhaps at a moment in history that we’ll all look back at one day and say, this was when it all started to gather real momentum. Would you agree with that?

Julie:
To a certain extent, it’s true. The #metoo movement has certainly been a catalyst for change all around the world. It took a while to get on a roll in Australia, but over the last couple of years we’ve seen Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins stand up, and people have stood with them and said enough is enough. And it’s not just a loud minority we’re talking about. The last federal election showed that a broad cross section were eager for change and keen to get behind the female ‘teal’ candidates who stood as independents on a platform including women’s representation.

Susan:
And they won some key seats didn’t they?

Julie:
Yes, they did. Women now have 43% of cabinet ministers – the highest number on record. Exciting times.

Susan:
It is exciting to think about those changes and how they might affect future decisions. But of course, right now there are pressing issues that need to be addressed with real urgency. Homelessness is a huge challenge for women in Australia. Victoria, you do a lot of work in this space. Why are women being affected in such large numbers?

Victoria:
The numbers are scary. In Queensland the data says there are still close to 10,000 women impacted by homelessness at any time, and we know this number is way under reported. Often this is as a result of a combination of factors. We hear in the media about a shortage of housing and soaring rents. That is certainly true, and the pressure keeps climbing. But the one factor you may not hear a lot about is the link between domestic and family violence and homelessness.

Susan:
And I guess if people realised the connection between domestic and family violence and homelessness, society might be better equipped to respond to it.

Victoria:
Yes, awareness of the cause and effect would impact the way the system responds to homelessness, but also, if we increase awareness about the early signs of domestic and family violence (or red flags), it would likely reduce experiences of violence and certainly decrease the experiences of homelessness.

Susan:
And what’s a typical red flag?

Victoria:
Oh, there are lots of red flags. Coercive control is the big one. We know that coercive control is quite often the pre-cursor to physical violence – as was the case for Hannah Clarke, and many others.

Susan:
And we’ve recently seen the Queensland government introduce the first round of legislative reforms in this area…

Victoria:
Yes, just last month. It’s definitely a step in the right direction. It’s an early stage of system wide reform that will strengthen laws to address the patterned nature of coercive control.

Susan:
The other thing of course that I have to mention is your new ad campaign aimed at helping our community recognise the red flags of coercive control.

Victoria:
Yes, we worked in partnership with Small Steps 4 Hannah to plan out a State-wide mass media campaign that was brought to life by the very clever advertising agency Publicis Worldwide. Publicis developed this campaign, which is called the Red Flag Effect campaign, completely pro bono (at no cost to the Trust) which demonstrates how powerful collaboration can be.

Susan:
But you are building a growing awareness of gender issues at a grassroots level aren’t you?

Tanya:
Yes, we are. Girl Shaped Flames and UNIQ You were to empower girls to know who they are, to be confident and to raise their expectations of what’s possible – what they can achieve – early within their development. So, when we think about change – real change – one of the most effective ways we can influence this is to start at the beginning and help girls to get on course and believe. As the name Girl Shaped Flames suggests, we’re lighting that flame.

Susan:
And I think for me, and I’m sure for many of the people here, that’s what exciting as philanthropists – the idea that we can create transformative change early in life, not wait until the problems emerge, but actually prevent some of these problems emerging in the future.

Tanya:
Absolutely. The impact behaviours and attitudes can have on young women from childhood onwards should not be underestimated. By building awareness of the gender bias we each carry, not just for adults but also for the girls themselves, can set them up with strong foundations for their own belief in what they are capable of.

Victoria:
And it’s true for the Red Flag Effect campaign too. If it can increase awareness and stimulate conversations around important topics, we have an opportunity to shape positive behaviors that can ultimately save lives.

Susan:
And Julie, you frame that in such simple terms – the idea of investing in women – and getting an amazing return that can benefit everyone.

Julie:
Yes, and it’s exciting to think that many organisations, including ours are exploring what can be achieved when we think about investing in awareness, education and attitude change on gender equality. When we’re all focused on the cause of these problems, I think that’s when great strides can be made.

Susan:
Another thing that fascinates me is where the passion comes from. Tanya you speak about ‘fire in the belly’ – how does that get ignited?

Tanya:
Yes it’s my fundamental believe that every girl has a fire in her belly. And we can ‘fan the flames’ when we help connect her with her understanding of capability, and her right to enjoy, achieve, step into her own power – whatever that might be.

This can be as simple as paying attention to her interests and providing her opportunities to practice them, or increasing her exposure to strong, inspirational female role models.

Over at UNIQ You we have a focus on ‘fanning’ these flames when it comes specifically to breaking down barriers for girls to consider pursuing career pathways into industries under-represented by women. STEM and Trades are the two main areas we focus on, with only 16% of STEM graduates in Australia being women. By increasing the visibility and accessibility of women out there kicking incredible goals in this space we show girls it’s safe, (and amazing!) to pursue something that lights them up.

Susan:
It’s interesting about STEM and what that means for the gender diversity in companies. A recent mcKinsey report revealed that gender diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform their counterparts financially.

There is also a strong argument that a lack of representation can make it harder for students to visualise themselves in these roles. This lack of representation is often referred to as a ‘leaky pipeline’, where a low representation of women at all levels within STEM leads to a society that undervalues the opportunities and innovations a career in STEM could provide for women.
So what can be done to address that?

Tanya:
It’s a complex issue that needs a multi-faceted approach, but the three key positive influencing factors that we focus on are: education, visibility and relevance.

Education is vital, lifting the veil on previously misunderstood or little know opportunities. Plus it can play a role in establishing those linkages around economic empowerment for young girls as early as possible. We’ve spoken aout visibility as well but relevance is often taken for granted.

Why *we* think girls should look to pathways in areas such as STEM aren’t always they key motivators for the girls themselves, so building a better alignment there is important as well.

And I can’t stress enough that parents and educators have a big role to play, removing their own bias so girls know that unique and exciting opportunities exist for them.

Susan:
So, Victoria and Tanya, to a large extent, investing in women and young women starts at home?

Victoria:
Absolutely, healthy attitudes towards relationships starts early, and what is modeled at home is critical to how these attitudes are formed.

Tanya:
Yes, parents set the example and embrace the topics, so yes, what happens in the home is a big part of what happens later in the community as girls grow up.

Susan:
And so we turn to you Julie. As funders looking to give in a way that is most impactful, and thinking outside the box for ways they can donate their time, and money in ways to effect change, supporting gender equality is an exciting option.

Julie:
Yes it is. It’s not just about choosing to fund programs for women and girls. It’s also about challenging assumptions and creating real change, change for future generations. Many funders assume women will benefit equally from so called gender’ neutral investments but the evidence shows that unless women are specifically considered in the design and delivery of funded initiatives they tend to be underserved.

The research report Breaking the norm, produced by Deloitte Access Economics in collaboration with AIIW, recently highlighted that until we change our mindset and from childhood – even the colour we dress our kids in – we are unintentionally reinforcing these gender norms. On the flipside of that, if we can change attitudes with each generation, the future is very exciting, for everyone on this panel, but also hopefully for everyone who came here today.

Susan:
Well said Julie. This forum is about creating real change, transformative change. And what you’ve just said now, I think that sums up a lot of the sentiment from today’s forum – that genuine change is possible. Especially when the leaders of great causes, like yourselves are given the chance to meet with philanthropists who are open to new ideas. It’s like an ecosystem of giving – a philanthropic community which we at Elston are keen to see grow.

At this stage I might get our community here involved in the discussion. Let’s throw it open to the room and invite comments and questions.

To learn more about the three charities featured in this article, and their great work, visit the Elston Philanthropy page. If you have any queries about structured giving, feel to get in touch with Susan Chenoweth.