On this International Women's Day, it's important to reflect on the progress that has been made towards gender equality, but also to recognize that there is still much work to be done. I have worked at Parallel for 5 years and I'm proud to see the growing number of females in our management team including myself. We have an opportunity to evoke change and empower females in our organizations and beyond. There are many ways we can ensure we do this, such as fostering a culture of inclusivity, providing support and resources, enabling women in our business to have a voice, and as part of our current management team it is super important we lead this message from the front.

Extremely proud to have a high percentage of the US workforce as Female. This is something that we always set out to do to create more ideas, diversity and balance in our workplace as we strive to be better every single day, I often see firms with a strictly male management team - all from the same era. What do you expect apart from the same ideas week after week? I joined Parallel in London in 2012 and now manage our business in North America. My team of professionals includes an even split of men and women, and we are fortunate to spend our days dealing with the very brightest talents in technology… the people who are doing their best to improve lives every time they go to work. But International Women’s Day reminds us that the benefits of these innovations and opportunities are not always equally available to everyone. The theme of the campaign this year is #EmbraceEquity, and at Parallel we have chosen to challenge ourselves, our colleagues, our clients, our friends and our peers to start normalizing conversations about women’s health at work.

Today, I wanted to reflect on this year's campaign of #embraceequity - It got me thinking about what does equity really mean? It means fairness. For me, rather than looking at the ever existent gender diversity gap, I wanted to think about a world in the future, where my beautiful daughter has fair and equal opportunity, one which has been fostered by continuing to educate men and boys, like my incredible son, around positive masculinities and recognising the continuous work that needs to be done. Let's not let it be 300 years until we have closed the gender gap worldwide, let's keep talking, keep educating, and driving positive and impactful change that will allow our future to have what they deserve.  

I joined Parallel in London 2 years and I’m so proud to now be part of the leadership team at a global recruitment firm supporting International Women’s Day and challenging itself and its peers to do more to create a fairer society. This International Women’s Day, Parallel Consulting has chosen to challenge employers to start normalising conversations about women’s health (physical/mental) in the workplace, specifically addressing the way in which women’s differing health needs can perpetuate gender inequity in the workplace.