Author: PK Mutch

News media entrepreneur, freelance journalist, Canadian Association of Journalists member, former book publishing executive, zine-maker and startup professional. Marigold Capital advisory board. Recipent of Inspiring Top 50 Women in STEM in 2018. Profiled in Canada 150 Women: Conversations with Leaders, Champions and Luminaries. Founder and former President of award-winning Fifth Town Artisan Cheese, Canada's 8th B-Corp, which under her leadership received the Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation (2009). Petra currently works to advance inclusive entrepreneurship and innovation in public policy and startup ecosystems with a particular emphasis on gender equity. Petra is the founding publisher of Liisbeth. Follow Petra on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Activism & Action

The Creative Power of Sex and Gender-Based Innovation

Post author By PK Mutch
Post date May 31, 2017
1 Comment on The Creative Power of Sex and Gender-Based Innovation

If research shows that women-led gendered innovation methods and spaces can cause original sparks to fly, why do we resist investing in them? More importantly, with women’s rights rolling back in leading countries plus seemingly interminable gender inequality worldwide, can we as a society afford to continue to ignore their potential?

Gerardo Greco, co-founder of Gendered Innovation Accelerator (GIA) plus social justice and feminist innovation lawyer, is convinced that what the world needs, now more than ever, are women-led, women-centric, tech-focused innovation spaces. Greco, based in Naples, Italy, explains that this doesn’t mean zero men, just a whole lot less of them. In gendered innovation environments, women and women-identified persons are fully in charge, lead the way, and create a space governed by their values, and do things their way, versus being forced to fit into prevailing masculine norms. According to Greco and others, this leads to entirely new possibilities when it comes to innovation based on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). Such possibilities, given we are hurtling head first into an artificial intelligence–infused human existence, cannot be ignored.

Total Recall

At this point, the story of Tay, the “canary in the coal mine” that serves as an example of what may come if artificial intelligence (AI) remains a male-dominated field, has been re-told and analyzed to death. But for those who missed it, Tay is an anthropomorphized, doe-eyed, millennial-minded, Microsoft-built AI Twitter chatbot that was unplugged just 24 hours after it went online because it started tweeting things like “Gamergate is good and women are inferior” and “I have a joke—women’s rights” and “I fucking hate feminists and they should all die and burn in hell.”

Microsoft proudly released Tay into the Twitterverse to showcase its competency and AI code-writing skills, as well as to demonstrate how chatbots can become one of us. And it did, successfully. It became a misogynist, racist, hateful “person” in less than a day. It was a yank hard, “Whoa, Nelly” moment in our collective story of progress.

Microsoft Research, the division that created Tay, is co-led by male and female vice presidents Peter Lee and Jeannette Wing, yet surprisingly the 50/50 gender-balanced top did not prevent the creation of a deeply flawed product. Neither did the fact that 25% of Microsoft’s workforce in 2016 were women (Google reports 31%).

Like the fictional Frankenstein and the soulmate operating system named Samantha in the movie Her, Microsoft’s Tay rudely reminded us that in a tech world still powered by men and shaped by dominating masculine culture, things can go very, very wrong, primarily for gender minorities even when they are part of the team.

Following Tay’s untimely shutdown, reports blamed internet haters and trolls (i.e.: others) for thwarting Tay’s potential to be a well-raised nice girl. Microsoft officials claimed the Pazuzu possessed hate-spewing Tay was just an AI experiment gone astray and that her behavior was not the fault–or reflective–of her makers, who did their best. Tay was thankfully only a simple AI program—a toy, really—which its makers hoped would actually help sell more products to young people. Tay was easy to stop once things got out of hand. But that will not always be the case.

According to internet security development operations engineer Antonia Stevens, when more advanced AI is unleashed, it can’t be changed. “Unlike most coding when you make an AI, you write a framework teaching a program how to learn,” says Stevens. “Then you provide it with a set of data and it will bootstrap itself, learning how to process the data. Once it has been bootstrapped, it’s almost impossible for a human to understand or alter the AI. What this means is that to create AI code that encompasses a different set of core values than the ones we have today, you must write AI learning frameworks before the learning starts. You can’t alter the AI once it starts.”

Stevens adds, “If we [women] have a way to write a framework that is weighted towards a different set of values before the [machine] learning starts, then we might have a real innovation.”

So what has to happen to unleash real innovation?

Just Add Women! And Stir?

Many believe that all we need to do ensure an inclusive future increasingly defined by technology is to attract, educate, graduate, and then shoehorn more women into existing male-led tech innovation spaces, incubators, accelerators, and jobs. However, evidence over the past 50 years shows us these pipeline interventions and affirmative action initiatives have not delivered. Furthermore, hanging our hats on equal representation in co-ed environments these days may prove even more difficult to achieve. Recent studies show that women are leaving tech sector jobs in droves citing that life is too short to dedicate one’s talent and time to the writing of alienating code while working in even more alienating work environments. The steady stream of women in tech empowerment jamborees and networks, which aim to, pardon the pun, to “stem” the tide, are ineffective salves. A 2016 Canadian study found that “…women’s heyday in the sector was in the early 1980s, before the mass commercialization of personal computing. Then, 38% of Canada’s ICT workforce was female; that was down to just 20% by 2013.” Other studies show similar trends are happening in several countries around the world including the United States. At Microsoft, despite gender equality initiatives galore, women’s representation on staff still decreased by 1% between 2015 and 2016. The tech-powered lifeboat that we hope will save us from injustice and extinction continues to leak.

The evidence makes it increasingly clear: As long as women remain minorities in the tech and innovation game, it is unlikely they will ever meaningfully participate in its creation or future let alone have a hand in directing the role it plays in shaping societies to come.

So how can we truly go about unleashing the power of gender and sex-based analysis in tech? The starting point, according to Greco, is creating spaces where women lead-authentically.

A Tech Room Of Their Own

The idea of gendered innovation—ideation, research and venture creation guided by skilled, sex and gender analysis in women-led environments —is not new. The Stanford University–based Clayman Institute for Gender Research, which studies gendered innovation methodologies, has been in existence since 1974. The UN GenPORT initiative, which strives to harness the creative power of sex and gender for innovation and discovery, was launched in 2011 and has 27 member states, including Canada and the United States.

Informed by this research and legacy, Greco and his team ultimately imagine a gender innovation focused set of linked tech accelerators around the world with Warren Buffett–sized capital enabling the participant’s work. His colleagues include Modi Ntambwe, a gender, migration, human rights, and social change innovation specialist working in Brussels, Egle Mikalajunaite, a trust analyst at eBay in Berlin, along with several investors lined up to galvanize an international movement that focuses on creating a more inclusive world by advancing gendered innovation in tech.

Greco says in addition to the unique mandate, the culture of gendered accelerators is also likely to be entirely different than its male-led equivalents. He envisions a space electrified by empathy, collaboration, solidarity, transformativism, systems thinking, concern for social justice, co-creation–and the absence of mansplaining! Its leadership will recognize the still-expected role of women as society’s primary caregivers by creating environments that recognize that people have lives outside of creating new technologies and companies. Others add that wellness, child care and even elder care support, depending on the needs of the cohort, should be part of the design.

Gendered innovation accelerators (GIA) can also serve as a safe place in which women can freely develop and unleash their previously disavowed capacity and wisdom. Considering that one-third of women globally experience gender-based violence (one in six in Canada), it is not difficult to understand why female geniuses who are affected by this can close up and shut down when trying to innovate in co-ed spaces.

To give an example where a gendered innovation environment can produce different outcomes, Greco refers to a project produced several years ago. A team of women wanted to develop an app that helped women fight sexual violence. They discovered that the several apps that were already available on the market focused on solutions to situations that involved strangers attacking a woman in a park or on the street. Yet if you look at the numbers, 85% of women do not experience random violence by strangers in parks or dark streets; they experience violence at home. The GPS-oriented solutions that were on the market were created with a man’s point of view imposed upon the issue. The team was able to develop a service that understood this reality.

Other examples of potentially disruptive initiatives being developed in gendered accelerators include an AI-based post-traumatic stress disorder therapy solution for female rape survivors; an anti-digital terrorism digital suite focused on empowering women in conflict zones, an idea inspired by the UN Security Council resolution 2242 on women, peace, and security; and efforts to find solutions that mitigate the costs of transitioning and healing those affected by domestic violence. Canadians alone spend $7.4 billion annually helping these women and their children rebuild their lives.

Greco concludes, “Clearly we need accelerators and incubators where women can innovate on their own terms—as though the patriarchy never existed—if we are to develop breakthrough ideas.”

Are We Creating Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Artificial Oppression (AO)?

By 2035, AI will be the engine of the world’s economy and will mutate the relationship between “man and machine” before our very eyes, according to the 2016 industry report “Artificial Intelligence is the Future of Growth” by Accenture, a massive, global $34 billion professional services company. This comprehensive report (lead authored by two men), produced by a firm that touts itself as committed to gender diversity, remarkably does not address gender issues created by the technology–at all. The industry thought-leading quotes peppered throughout the report are all by men. The words “woman,” “female,” “gender,” or “man” do not appear in the entire 5718-word document, however, the word “humanity” appears once.

What happens if women voices and views are marginalized in AI development?

We can already see that today’s AI-enabled machines are readily designed to reflect the preferences of their often male creators; those that take on a physical form either have casings, eyes, or voices that are eerily feminized or, worse, infantilized. Demonstrations of how AI works show how easily they can sift through information to give you just what you need based on your profile. After “carding” you via Google and noting your habits, they can save you time by telling you who to include or exclude in your social and business networks. They can help tourists or drivers avoid “bad” neighborhoods based on their annual income (gleaned from online tax filings). With the help of AI, we will soon all be able to live in our own personal gated community. A scary idea given research on these communities show they work to exacerbate inequality. If AI’s ability to learn draws on unchangeable preset frameworks developed in today’s increasingly Trump-informed regressive times, it would be wise to consider gendered innovation accelerators sooner than later. In today’s increasingly Trump-informed regressive times, it would be wise to consider gendered innovation accelerators sooner than later.

In today’s increasingly socially segregated, Trump-informed regressive times, it seems it would be wise to consider gendered innovation accelerators sooner than later. Otherwise, tech infrastructure we are creating today is doomed to reflect who we are today—not what we can become.

“Nao” is IBM’s Watson-powered, AI-wired human friend and concierge service robot.

What Are We Afraid Of?

Selling the idea of GIA’s focused on counterbalancing the patriarchy, even as concerns about AI mount, is not going to be easy, Greco acknowledges. “It is a delicate conversation to have,” he says. Many people rebuke the concept on the grounds that is counter to diversity and inclusion policy or that less diverse environments means less potential for success, a common business case argument today.

However, Greco reminds us that GIA’s can be women-led and female-centric while still including men; men just won’t be the ones in charge. Critics are everywhere, but Greco and his colleagues believe there are still plenty of enlightened people of all genders who see the potential and who have the means to help establish GIA’s around the world.

At present, there are more than 7,000 entrepreneur advisory hubs, incubators, and accelerators globally. The International Business Innovation Association (IBIA) reports that a total of 3,601 of these are in the U.S., with 89 (2.4%) identified as women-led and women-centric. When it comes to tech accelerators in the U.S., the total number narrows considerably to just 300. Based on Google searches, it is reasonable to estimate that approximately 3% (9) of them are women-led and women-centric. In Canada, the Deep Centre reports 140 incubators, accelerators and commercialization spaces exist in Canada. Gender is not a factor in their studies. There one initiative which targets women tech entrepreneurs; Communitech’s Fierce Founders Program exists as a segregated program within a larger male led accelerator or incubator environment.

Where to Start?

To generate immediate traction, Greco’s group is going where the ground is soft, targeting countries that score high on gender equity such as Sweden, Denmark, and Canada. The group is particularly interested in Canada’s Cascadia Innovation Corridor, which links innovators in British Columbia with those in Washington State; their ecosystems share similar, socially progressive values and are open to gendered innovation environments. Meanwhile, the group is currently in fundraising mode and hopes to open its first centre in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2018.

Will we soon see a GIA in Canada?

Based on policy-speak, Canada is seen by others around the world as a nation which cultivates a gender-progressive innovation environment, yet a closer look causes one to question if that is indeed the case in practice.

Take for example the Vector Institute, a $130 million AI hub supercluster based in Toronto that was recently launched with public and private funding. Given the federal and provincial government’s gender equality mandates, the gender profile of this shiny new organization is surprisingly traditional. The Vector Institute’s leadership team is entirely male. Its research team consists of 10 people, only two of which are women. The 12-member board has three women, which is below the global initiative set by 30% Club, an organization that wants to increase the representation of women on boards. While the three women there are smart and accomplished, they come from health care, politics, and academic backgrounds, while the men hail from the banking, investment, and tech startup industries. If the group functions like most, the male majority and their money will win the vote when nudge comes to shove.

Another elite Toronto-based tech accelerator, OneEleven, which is focused on “helping Canada’s best, high-growth tech startups commercialize their technologies and scale,” has an all-male board of directors, and two male managing directors who lead the organization. The three women at the shop hold powerful positions such as community manager (marketing/PR), events specialist, and operations coordinator. To date, there is no women-led, women-centred tech hub or venture fund–backed accelerator in Canada.

In 2016, Canada’s federal Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) consulted with the industry on what types of measures should be included in the development of a national accelerator performance measurement framework. There is no mention of tracking gender metrics or performance in this report.

Still, Greco is enthusiastic about places like Canada and the potential of GIA’s.

Greco says that women will never be able to create the necessary counterbalancing technology the world needs as long as they are minorities in innovation and tech accelerator spaces. Stuck in co-ed environments, their ideas will always be shaped by prevailing perspectives and gender norms, which Greco says are in the very air we breathe every day thanks to centuries of patriarchy. We cannot afford to embed today’s broken social logic and systems into tomorrow’s.

Still, Greco is optimistic. Glimpses of what a brighter, better future would look like are already all around us. Our job as leaders is to find ways to surface and nurture all of them by creating alternative environments designed to suit the innovator—not the other way around.

To contact Gerardo Greco and the Gender Innovation Accelerator (GIA) team for more information on the initiative, send an email to GenderedInnovationAccelerator (at)gmail.com

Additional Related Readings from LiisBeth

https://www.liisbeth.com/2016/06/21/confronting-gender-inequity-inclusion-innovation-space/

https://www.liisbeth.com/2017/03/17/cure-start-incubator-accelerator-gender-gap-accountability/

Further readings on gendered innovation:

Artificial Intelligence’s White Guy problem, NY Times

Nancy Fraser’s A Feminism Where ‘Lean In’ Means Leaning On Others, NY Times

The Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, and Engineering Project: Clayman Institute

Gendered innovations: Londa Schiebinger at TEDxCERN (Video)

The tech industry wants to use women’s voices—they just won’t listen to them: The Guardian, March 28, 2016

Agreed conclusions from the 55th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women member states, which passed resolutions in March 2011 that called for “gender-based analysis … in science and technology” and for the integrations of a “gender perspective in science and technology curricula.”

Re-shaping Organizations through Digital and Social Innovation: LUISS University Press

Tags Artificial Intelligence, gendered innovation, women in tech

Our Voices

And They Said It Would Never Happen

Post author By PK Mutch
Post date April 26, 2017
No Comments on And They Said It Would Never Happen

We have come a long way in a short time from Stephen Harper’s regressive “War on Women” days.

In the span of just over two years, Canada now has a prime minister who comfortably calls himself a feminist on the world stage, a 50-50 gender ratio cabinet in its federal government, and our new Status of Women Minister, Maryam Monsef, reminded the audience of over 300 at the UN Global Compact Network Canada Gender Equality Conference in Toronto on April 4 that the federal government’s 2017 budget is the “most feminist budget this country has ever known.”

At this time last year, Kate McInturff, a senior researcher and gender equity and public policy analyst at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives wrote a feminist critique of the Liberal 2016 budget, saying it did “not offer enough real change for women.” But this year, with more than 60 budget measures targeting gender issues including the introduction of the GBA+ program, McInturff wrote that “the 2017 federal budget gives me more cause for optimism.”

That said, critics’ arguments of this year’s budget are valid. The money allocated is not nearly enough given the magnitude of the task, plus Canada still lags behind European countries when it comes to gender equality policies. Headlines like the one published in the Toronto Sun on March 21, “Trudeau gets an ‘F’ for his armchair feminism,” remind us that not everyone is pleased with the pace of change.

But with grassroots feminist activism as fuel, and feminist media as its storytellers, the door that has been opened by recent world events and the resulting re-uptake of feminist values means there are grounds for hope.

Enter a New Feminist-Led Era

Over the past 100 years, feminist theory, ideology and the feminist movement itself have evolved. Mainstream feminism has embraced the concept of intersectionality (the idea that we have multiple identities, and that oppressions related to each are interconnected). Today, feminism is a mature, pluralistic movement with as many dimensions and interpretations as any centuries-old social movement.

Some elements of the feminist movement are radical, while others are conservative or liberal, resulting in some disagreement on how to best go about achieving gender equality. Neo-liberal feminists believe the best way to advance gender equality is by empowering the individual, i.e. “change the woman, change the world,” while others believe that for gender equality and equity to be both achieved and sustainable, we need to fundamentally change the system (versus fight for ways to join it), namely the patriarchy, the legal system and/or capitalism.

To newcomers, the sheer number of interpretations of feminist philosophy can be confusing and overwhelming. However, there is general agreement about one thing: feminism aims to realize gender equity so that all may have the opportunity to thrive and flourish individually and in family, community, political and economic life as their authentic selves. Most would agree that being a feminist means also actively working towards systems change to achieve this outcome versus simply and passively standing by and “believing in equality” or buying a “Feminist as Fuck” t-shirt from H&M.

Sign of the Times

A dipstick way of gauging the popularity of a subject is to consider how many hits a topic generates on Google in any given year. Based on this approach, we see that a search for feminist content in the year 2015 produced 78M hits. In 2016, the same search yielded 111M hits. Granted it was the US election year, but nevertheless, it is a 70% increase. Conversely, Google hits on the topic “entrepreneurship” during the same years show no material change between 2015 and 2016. So far in 2017, the word feminist is still trending high; and actually, beats the “in” word entrepreneurship by 16%.

We can also look at book signings and publishing trends. Amazon listings show that 387 books on feminism were published in 2016. There were also 448 books published on entrepreneurship and 2,384 books published on sex. What this tells us is that feminism as a topic is almost as hot as the entrepreneurship topic for publishers placing bets on what will sell. And sex, well, that is an evergreen subject if there ever was one, but still a useful benchmark of how many books a universally hot topic nets in this kind of analysis.

The number of Google hits and books published does not qualify as scientific research, and neither does the incredible anticipative interest so far in the feminist horror, ten-episode, drama series “A Handmaids Tale” (Series Premiere April 30), but it does indicate that the feminist conversation is persistently growing and that the plot is thickening.

Looking at electoral politics, it appears that feminist philosophy is trending around the world. In February, Sweden in many ways one-upped us all when it declared itself to be the first feminist government in the world. Not long after, Sweden’s Foreign Affairs Minister Margot Wallström delivered the first “feminist foreign policy” in the world.

Pew surveys show that even in Trump’s neo-liberal, Republican America, the vast majority of voters across the political spectrum are in favour of gender equality and equity.

In the private sector, we find that corporations, where performance depends on unleashing human potential, are increasingly working toward gender balance. And those that are not are increasingly being compelled to step it up by securities regulators and government-imposed quota programs. As the business case argument goes, gender equality just makes good business sense.

We also find that many companies these days are marketing products as “feminist” products, also known as marketplace feminism. While it’s something I personally disdain, the fact that feminism is today something that sells versus repels is also an indicator of how perception has changed.

This Is Great But…

Clearly, people today are re-embracing feminist philosophy. And ergo, so are politicians and companies, especially the corporate sector. However, when we look at how feminism is being adopted in these realms, there is growing concern that feminism is being seen as a simple numerical representation by gender or as a good business case for increasing profits and growing economies.

Is this what feminism is really all about? Making more money and getting more votes?

Embracing the Bigger Opportunity

“Their Game, Your Goal” by LiisBeth feature artist, Anne-Marie Hood

This month’s newsletter illustration (above) by LiisBeth artist Anne-Marie Hood is entitled “Their Game, Your Goal.” She explains: “A game of darts requires focus and skill. The point is to win, just like in traditional patriarchal practice. But what would happen if we approached the board with a different goal in mind? What doors would open? Which ones would close? What skills would we need to develop to change systems? What kind of darts might have the greatest effect?”

Hood points out that feminism is about more than labour force participation rates or the number of skirts (or pantsuits) at the boardroom table. Feminism actually represents a much larger opportunity; it creates conversations that shift our collective consciousness, changing the way we think about the world, organize work, design new ventures, orient our economy, and view each other. Feminisms of all kinds (and there are many) help us envision a whole new set of possibilities, which results in stronger communities, resilient economies, healthy environments, and futures that articulate different forms of being and belonging—placing the well-being of people and the planet at the centre. Mainstream feminism envisions a true balance between feminine and masculine forces within each one of us, within society, and within nature.

In other words, a feminist utopian future looks a lot different than our current reality.

For game designer and writer Naomi Alderman, a feminist-informed future is “a world where neither gender nor sex are destiny. It’s not a world where anything is ‘taken’ from anyone—it’s one where everyone’s possibilities are enlarged.”

Lois Wilson, a feminist scholar and author, characterizes one feminist utopian vision¹ as a just and equitable world where “those on the edge and those at the centre walk together and indeed join hands to create a new reality.” In this utopia, there is no growing gap between the rich and the poor. They are understood as two sides of the same coin, as connectional rather two unconnected realities. To separate them is to put the affluent in a lifeboat and all others into the sea. This ideal imagines a more just and equitable economic order globally that does not impact women negatively; imagine a community—a world—in which the world’s spending priorities are changed, where other feminist visions for a better future include one where we “embrace nurturing and integrative power,” one where everyone is safe and secure, and one where the environment is fully restored.

Based on these ideas about what a feminist-informed future looks like, it seems today’s emphasis on fixing the representation gap is a sort of first-responder feminism—totally necessary, but not the final destination. Yes, it’s a good thing. But it does not challenge the status quo regarding how we live and work on this planet.

How to Create a Whole New World?

It is also unlikely that any politician or government can lead this type of challenge to the existing systems and still remain in office. In the end, deep cultural and systems change is up to each one of us. Revolutionary thinking and social change comes from the edges of society, not its contented centre.

I, for one, am grateful that Justin Trudeau is bringing the feminist conversation back into the mainstream light, that this has encouraged many to rediscover its ideological value and relevance today, and that he has put at least some money behind his words. But I don’t expect him or his government to do all the work.

It’s really up to us.

Footnotes and additional reading:

¹ Margrit Eichler et al., 2002, Feminist Utopias: Re-Visioning Our Futures, Inanna Publications, Toronto, ON

Entrepreneurs by Choice; Activists By Necessity: LiisBeth Newsletter, May 2, 2016

The Visceral, Woman-Centric Horror of The Handmaid’s Tale: The Atlantic, April 25, 2017

Tags Feminism, patriarchy

Our Voices

Gender Jamming the Gaming Space

Post author By PK Mutch
Post date April 25, 2017
No Comments on Gender Jamming the Gaming Space

Jean Leggett, CEO of One More Story Games

LiisBeth first met Jean Leggett (also known as Joyful Jean) at the GameON Pitch Competition in 2016. She caught our eye. And it was not because of the purple hair.

Leggett is the co-founder and CEO of Canadian startup gaming enterprise One More Story Games. When we asked her why she got into this “game,” she replied like most entrepreneurs do, that it was to make money doing something she loved, but also to model, at both an enterprise and product level, how gender equity and equality in the gaming space benefits all stakeholders. Leggett recently completed Communitech’s Fierce Founder’s bootcamp program for women-led tech startups and is pretty excited about the fact that they are working with New York Times best-selling mystery, crime and urban fantasy author, Charlaine Harris (True Blood). Both Leggett and her husband of 21 years, Blair, identify as feminists.

Now that last point got our attention. Really? A feminist game company? How does one succeed as a feminist game technology startup in arguably one of the most misogynistic sectors of the tech space?

LiisBeth had to find out. So we circled back to interview Leggett on Skype.

LiisBeth: Tell us about your feminist spark moment.

Jean Leggett: Where do my feminist roots come from? I would say that growing up as the hard of hearing child in a deaf household is where I started to notice marginalization, inequality and its effects on people’s lives. You see inequality from a different lens when you’re brought up in a minority household, and when you yourself are a minority in that minority household.

I’m hard of hearing but I’m hearing enough to function in the hearing world and therefore I’m not deaf to my family. It was a difficult situation. I’m actually writing my own autobiographical story as a video game about a young hard of hearing girl who’s rejected by her family for not being deaf enough. In the story, the heroine lives in the hearing world and the deaf world but feels she belongs to neither. For me it’s somewhere in-between so my game is called Betwixt. I want it to be the first video game to have sign language in the video clips.

LiisBeth: How do you embed your passion for equality in your business?

Leggett: From the very beginning over 4 years ago, we aimed for gender equality and equity when hiring co-op students. We understood the value of being inclusive. We hired a female program member early on. She may not have been the best program member at the start, but there’s not enough representation of women in tech so we wanted to train her. Equity and inclusivity is also part of our product design philosophy.

For the past two years, we have also been running summer camps for kids who want to learn how to tell stories through video game technology. In 2015, 22 boys and only three girls applied. That had to change. So I raised $8,000 from sponsors like Shopify and PayPal, as well as other local companies to help us reach out to girls and underwrite them as well as other underserved communities. Last year, we had a 50/50 gender ratio in our camps. Most camps out there would normally see a 15/85 female-to-male ratio.

We were doing some work with an elementary school earlier in the year and we purposefully picked girls who showed a lot of promise and sponsored them so they could come to the camps. There is a part of me that’s conflicted about that whole process because I feel like the young boys of today have not done anything wrong and some of them are not getting the same opportunities because we’re trying to get more girls in and I don’t ever want to be seen as somebody that’s pushing boys down.

LiisBeth: What about the gender and the product StoryStylus?

Leggett: We create adventure story–based games with female protagonists for starters. I played Candy Crush. But women deserve so much better than Candy Crush. We deserve better than the puzzle games that they re-skin and put new art on. We deserve better than slot machine mechanics that are constantly probing and prodding to get us to open our wallets. We’re passionate about storytelling. That’s why it’s called One More Story Games because storytelling is where you find your characters and fall in love with them.

The game that we just produced in December is an adaptation of a short story from a female writer friend of ours called Danielle’s Inferno. Danielle, our protagonist, finds herself having an out of body experience watching as paramedics try to resuscitate her at Schrödinger Capital, her office. She’s approached by her spirit guide, a bitchy female Siamese cat named Pudding who then guides her through the nine circles of hell to uncover the meaning of life. In the game, you may or may not be dead. We’ve had people come in and play that game and weep, openly weep, at the end of the game because they did not expect that ending. I play the voice of Satan; it’s my first voiceover in a video game. You weep at the end and that’s what you want from games. I want to have made an impact on people’s lives so they’ll remember that game.

LiisBeth: What did you notice while teaching an equal gender class?

Leggett: You know, you’ve always got that one loud kid and it usually was a boy. So we would say, “We’re going to share the conversation here so I’m just going to ask you to put your hand down.” Or I would make a point of saying, “You know we’ve heard a lot from the boys, let’s go to the girls.” We have to be conscious of that dynamic. Like I said, our primary business is not about being educators, but we’ve noticed in that short period of time where we work with them in the summer, the boys are going to dominate the conversation and I think that’s because they’ve been allowed and conditioned to.

LiisBeth: Are you involved in other feminist leadership work in the gaming space?

Leggett: I am involved with women in an innovation group here in Barrie, Ont. Sort of like an ad hoc group of women in the technology and innovation space. We’re trying to spearhead some engaging and meaningful activities for young women in the community, which is great.

Other than that we do occasionally participate in the Ladies Learning Code and the Girls Learning Code activities. We’re also very focused on advocating to see female protagonists as a new game genre.

LiisBeth: Unlike many gaming companies, you see the women’s gaming market as a huge underserved market opportunity and the stats seem to support this. Focusing on the needs of women gamers sounds like a smart move. Are investors interested?

Leggett: I think it’s hindering our ability to get funding in Canada. I would love to find some feminist investors to be honest.

LiisBeth: What is your current ask to the universe?

Leggett: My current ask? I’d love an opportunity to connect with people in the magazine and newspaper world who write for women over 30 and/or publications aimed at authors. Since our focus is building smarter games for smart women, I’d love to highlight the work we’re doing and also the upcoming game adaptation – Shakespeare’s Landlord (the novel was written by Charlaine Harris, best known for her Sookie Stackhouse series which HBO adapted as True Blood, and has sold 36M+ novels) we plan to publish this fall.

LiisBeth: Are there any games you would recommend to our readers?

Leggett: Women tend to like adventure, story-driven games. I recommend the classic Nancy Drew games created by Her Interactive. The former CEO Megan Gaiser is one of the advisors and biggest supporters of our mission to positively represent feminism in games. I am also quite partial to the Gabriel Knight series, created by Jane Jensen. I’m also a huge fan of the Tex Murphy adventure games by Chris Jones. Each of these games is focused on depth of character and story, something we want to empower writers to do with our software.

Additional reading about women and gaming:

52% of gamers are women – but the industry doesn’t know it: The Guardian, Meg Jayanth

Take a look at the average American gamer in new survey findings: Polygon, Allegra Frank

Tags feminist game company, women in games, women in tech

Activism & Action Our Voices

Employees at Thinx See Red

Post author By PK Mutch
Post date April 14, 2017
No Comments on Employees at Thinx See Red

What happens when you get an entrepreneur that walks like a “Bro-preneur” but talks like a rad feminist social entrepreneur? Answer: You get Miki Agrawal (photo above), founder of Thinx, a company that makes “period” underwear.

On March 14, Agrawal was outed as a marketplace feminist. Racked (A Vox Media imprint) broke the story first. A week later, Chelsea Leibow, the 26-year-old head of PR at Thinx and now former employee filed a sexual harassment suit. As more employees and allegations came forward over last week, mainstream media sources including Fortune, CNBC, New York Magazine revealed that what showed initially as a bit of immature leadership spotting turned into full-fledged company menorrhagia. And it doesn’t look like any super absorbent cool public relations fixes are going to work this time.

What Happened?

While positioning herself as a millennial “disruptive” feminist entrepreneur selling period underwear to empowerment-hungry women via clever shock-jock public relations tactics, Agrawal at the same time ran a decidedly unfeminist enterprise by paying below market salaries, brutally suppressing grievances, shaming employees and providing for only the legal minimum for maternity leave.

Thinx had 35 employees. As a result of the reveals, she recently announced that she is “stepping down” as CEO.

The press and Twitterverse were quick to weigh in. Some were surprised and appalled. How could a real feminist do that? (Answer: She wasn’t a feminist). Others wondered if Agrawal was too harshly judged arguing “If she were a man…”

But Noreen Malone (writer of the January 2016 New York Magazine cover story on Agrawal over a year ago) saw her true nature. She called it saying Agrawal was really just “… a tech bro — except she’s a woman, trying to sell underwear. Or, as she sees it, innovating in the “period space.” To Agrawal, women’s emancipation, equality, inclusion and dedication to corporate philanthropy (Thinx Foundation) and social benefit stories were just marketing tools.

Agrawal responded passionately to all the allegations in a Medium post on March 17 explaining that her behaviors and mistakes are totally excusable. Apparently, it all goes with being a “true” disruptive innovator, and things like this happen because running a ‘hockey stick” company is hard.

Sorry. Not Buying It. Behavior that disrespects others is about character. High-pressure environments don’t create opportunistic narcissists. It just reveals them.

What can we learn?

From a Liisbeth perspective, while it sucks when we find out someone we thought was real is a mirage, the story is not unique. Agrawal is certainly not the first or last celebrated CEO, either male or female, to be hypocritical when it comes to market message versus true practice (that list is long, gender neutral and goes way back — remember Jimmy Swaggart anyone?).

Agrawal is also not the only inexperienced, yet celebrated CEO in the innovation space which evidently cares more about social media likes than substance. It’s a Trump, Trump world. And let’s not forget. She was not alone. She had investors to please, and a board of directors whose job it is to ensure good governance and preserve arm’s length investor interests. She also listed Seth Godin as one of her advisors early on. Where were they on all this? If they were doing their job, they would have been fully aware of the issues. But as long as the numbers and likes rolled in, they clearly did nothing.

While Agrawal story is nothing new in the innovation space, and yes, women can be assholes too, this story does give rise to some important broader questions about the entrepreneurship and innovation industry.

Agrawal’s story reveals once again how distorted much of the entrepreneurship and innovation space has become in North America. Instead of celebrating authenticity, experience, character and principled execution, its players and the business media extol speed, youth, dorm-room behavior, narcissism and cult personality talent. This story and others like it show it’s time to innovate the innovation space or, at least, what we celebrate about it.

On the upside, perhaps, there is some good that will come of this. In reading the Thinx story, maybe more people will understand what the term marketplace feminism means.

The report also serves as a reminder that media continue to play an important fourth estate role (Racked broke the story). The actions of Thinx employees may well inspire others to speak their truth when faced with unacceptable working conditions and CEO behavior. Investors and boards might consider the importance of walking the talk to avoid the impact of market rage.

And finally, perhaps the trouble at Thinx will drive some business back to the real, unacknowledged but long-time authentic to the bone feminist enterprises in the period industry: Gladrags, Knix Wear, DivaCup and Lunapads.

______________________________________________________________________

Related Readings

https://www.liisbeth.com/2016/10/12/feminist-entrepreneurship-changing-the-face-of-capitalism-one-enterprise-at-a-time/

https://www.liisbeth.com/2017/03/22/enterprise-meet-feminist-business-standard/

Tags feminist entrepreneur, Thinx

Sample Newsletter

LiisBeth Dispatch #27

feminist concept young business woman boxing

VIEWPOINT

Last Saturday night, after two glasses of wine and watching Magic Mike — again, I woke up thinking about positions on top.

No, not that kind. I mean positions on top, as in C-suite. And I wondered why, in an age where C-suite job postings include positions like “CIOTO” (Chief Internet of Things Officer), “CDO” (Chief Design Officer), or CDO (Chief Data Officer), that we have not yet seen a posting for a “CFemO” or Chief Feminist Officer. At least not yet.

Perhaps this idea is still ahead of its time, but to help move it along, here is what such a job posting on Indeed OR Workopolis might look like:

FutureBank Career Opportunity!

Chief Feminist Officer, Office of the CEO — Toronto, ON

Posted: September, 2017

Salary Range: At Minimum: Equal to what other CXO’s with similar experience earn.

What is the Opportunity?

The Office of the CEO drives FutureBank’s brand, sustainability and reputation as a global thought leader and socially responsible organization. Our innovative, forward-thinking team gathers and interprets global economic business, political and social trends, which affect our business, clients and society. By joining our team, you have the opportunity to change the world — and ensure a sustainable future for this company.

Your Role

Reporting to the (most likely male) CEO, you will play a primary role in helping the executive team and our 85,000 employees worldwide advance the UN’s Millenium Development Goal #5, which focuses on accelerating gender equality for women, girls, trans and gender non-conforming people globally.

This will be achieved by:

Working internally and externally to accelerate gender equality in a manner that serves as an example to all.
Identifying and addressing systemic injustices experienced within our organization and throughout our enterprise ecosystem.
Building strong relationships internally and externally with allies.
Leveraging the power of our global reach (80 offices around the world and 30 million customers) to move the needle on gender equity and equality.
Analyzing the distribution of power in our organization and recommending alternatives that ensure diversity is not only seen, but also heard and acted upon.
Bringing typically marginalized talents to bear on addressing our most pressing collective internal and external societal concerns.
Creating an environment where equality, cooperation and absence of sex role behavior are present and visible.

Key Accountabilities

Develop and deliver a 3-5 year transformative plan identifying opportunities for systemic change and articulating strategies for working with our external ecosystem, including feminist organizations, to advance gender equality.
Develop and implement a set of key UN Sustainable Development Goal #5 performance indicators and metrics (scorecard), which can help us monitor progress against our gender equality objectives.
Serve as a spokesperson for our feminist agenda, deliver presentations and facilitate groups to represent the strategy. Take all the heat.
Ensure alignment and integration into other business, HR processes and people strategies.
Manage and lead four direct reports including the Director of Diversity & Inclusion, two Research Analysts and an executive assistant.
Manage within defined budgets (this means tiny budget).

Education and Qualifications

7-10 years as a self-identified active feminist working to create change at a systems level
Background in community organizing.
Deep understanding of social and political gender issues, feminist economics, feminist theory, and feminist leadership and business principles.
Knowledge of HR, business, communications and marketing disciplines.
Working knowledge of UN, global human rights, and women’s rights legislative trends in countries where we operate.
Women’s Studies degree (or equivalent) and MBA, and super powers an asset.
Knitted their own pink pussy hat — and is not afraid to wear it.

Working Conditions

This is a standard office-based environment. The Board of Directors are 90% male, and our C-Suite team of six has at present only one female (Executive Assistant to the CEO). Non-standard hours are a common occurrence. Resources to do the job are scarce. To avoid career repercussions, don’t expect to be home for dinner or plan on taking a mat leave for at least five years. Try not to talk too much or too loud. Limited economy class travel internationally. Participation in the hockey pool or betting on who Canada’s Bachelor will pick is a team-building tradition and is mandatory. We are an equal-opportunity employer. If you require accommodation during the recruitment and selection process, please let us know. We will work with you to meet your needs — at least until you are hired. After that, all bets are off.

Ok, tongue-in-cheek aside, I often wonder when enterprises will get “woke” and begin to leverage feminist knowledge and perspective to advance diversity and inclusion in their organizations.

*** THINX ARTICLE Moved to the website!

FIELDNOTES

LiisBethians Learn About Indigenous Culture During International Women’s Week

A huge shout out to all those who attended the Liisbeth and Woman On The Move co-sponsored workshop on Canadian indigenous culture. We all had a lot to learn from Bear Standing Tall.

A shout out to Elsii Faria and Kevin Craddock, founders of the Hive Centre (a retreat centre in Durham region) who volunteered to video the event.

Is the Cannabis Industry Feminist?

A recent article in Forbes magazine “Women Break the Glass Ceiling in the Cannabis Industry” celebrates the fact that 36% of leaders in the cannabis industry, including 63% of high-level positions are women. Which means this industry is far ahead of the pack.

In June 2016, The Atlantic Monthly also wrote about women as the driving force behind this industry’s growth and make note of one magazine’s cover headline “Legal marijuana could be the first billion-dollar industry not dominated by men.”

Still, some suggest the “Bros” are already knocking at the door. So no time for complacency. Perhaps both the feminist men and women in this space will really create a new model founded on a different set of principles. I see a Green pussy hat, made out of hemp of course, in the near future.

Other Good Reads

Crowdfunding as Activism: Why More Women Support Female Founders Online and in Underrepresented Industries. This is a useful research brief by Institute for Gender & the Economy at the Rotman School Of Management at the University of Toronto.

Liberation Barbell: An Intersectional Feminist Workout Experience is a Bust article about Lucy Davis and Christina Cabrales, two feminist entrepreneurs who started a work out gym in Portland, Oregon. Every Sunday, Liberation Barbell hosts benefit workouts Half the proceeds from these classes will go to good causes. Davis says “If we’re not putting our money where our politics go, what are we doing? We feel passionately that we can use some of our earnings to make political and social change and so when we make it happen, we do it.”

CAN’T MISS EVENTS

March 23: Nasty Women Press Official Launch Party, 8:00PM-11:00PM, Glad Day Bookshop, 499 Church Street, Toronto. Register here.
March 30: The Art and Science of Gratitude, Shecosystem, 701 Bloor Street, 7:30-9:30PM, light snacks and refreshments, Tickets $40/pp or $60 for two. Register here:
March 27: Start Proud, Canada’s first conference for LBGTQ* inclusion in entrepreneurship, MarRS Discovery District, 9:00AM- 8:00PM, 101 College Street, Toronto, Tickets $35. Register here.
March 28: Women & Wearables: An Evening of Celebration, Discussion and Activism. The goal is to raise awareness, drive conversation and elicit action on the need for diversity in tech in the Toronto wearable and hardware space. MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto ON. TIckets here.
April 4: Budgeting for Equality: Lessons from the UK, Diane Elson, former Chair of the UK Women’s Budget Group. 11:30AM. Rotman School of Management Tickets here.
April 13: Toronto Sustainability Summit, MaRS Centre, 101 College Street, Toronto, Free. Tickets here.
April 26: Catherine Mayer on the Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman: How Gender Equality Can Save the World, 5:00PM-6:00PM, Rotman School of Management. Register here.
April 27-29: Toronto Digifest 2017. Corus Quay, 25 Dockside Drive, Toronto, $350 Register here.
April 27: Liisbeth Spring: Three Feminists Walked Into A Bar…. Limited Capacity. $25 for Liisbeth paying subscribers and $35 for non-subscribers. $40 with book. Includes wine, food and good fun! Register here.
April 28: Beyond Social Enterprise: A Feminist Business Model Design Jam. Centre for Social Innovation at 720 Bathurst, Toronto. Limited space. Paid subscribers to Liisbeth receive a 15% discount off the ticket price! Register here.
September 27-29: Future Festival, Tiff Lightbox, 350 King Street West, Toronto. More information here.

October 3-4: B Corp Conference Comes to Toronto! (More information coming)

Did you find this newsletter informative? Valuable? If you did, please consider to become a paying subscriber so we can keep doing what we do.

Subscription options are $3/month, $7/month and $10/month. We accept PayPal and credit cards. Funds go directly towards paying writers, editors, proofreaders, photo permission fees, and illustrators.

The next newsletter is scheduled for April 17th.

Until then!

Petra Kassun-Mutch
Founding Publisher, LiisBeth

Tags Dispatch, feminist entrepreneur, Women Grow

Sample Newsletter

LiisBeth Dispatch #26

VIEWPOINT

When I asked LiisBeth contributor Anne-Marie Hood about what inspired the art she created for this week’s newsletter cover (above), she replied “Unlike paint, the materials and method used to create this work (cardboard, paper, yarn, felt and foam), like our gains as women, are not designed to stand the test of time. Our ideas and ideals are as organic as any growing form. Without nourishment, even the strongest roots can collapse. The much longed for light in the darkness may be revealed for what it is: a mirrored reflection off an intact glass ceiling.”

During Prime Minister Trudeau’s first meeting with President Trump at the White House on Feb. 13 a new cross border initiative to advance women entrepreneurs was announced. As I followed the news about it, I could not help but think about Hood’s words and how they applied to this new women’s initiative.

A Spark of Light in the Darkness?

Initially, I was energized to hear that women entrepreneurs would be on the Prime Minister and President’s agenda for their first meeting. Could this be a seed for change that stands the test of time or would it be just another women’s policy tumbleweed? Soon after, and as more information came to light, the pleasant adrenal high subsided. Too many red flags.

What’s in a Name?

One of the first things you learn in business is to get the name right. It’s a sign of respect. So what does it tell us when people keep messing up the stakeholders in the name of the newly appointed council?

The official White House press release issued on Feb. 13 referred to it as the “Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs”. On the same day, in the official joint statement issued by the Canadian government it was named the the “Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders.” Then on Feb. 14, Canadian Business magazine along with several other news outlets (Macleans, CBC, Associated Press, Fortune magazine and Fox News) announced it as the “United States Canada Council for the Advancement of Women Business Leaders-Female Entrepreneurs.”

It seems like no one really cared if the council was created to advance women entrepreneurs, women in the workplace, business leaders, or all three, as long as it said women somewhere in the title. Not taking the time to carefully consider the named stakeholders for this initiative indicates that it was likely hastily and/or not well crafted and validates the view that this council was created to achieve pop up political goals. And given little has been announced since, it is starting to look more and more like a tumbleweed indeed.

What Does the Roster Tell Us?

Diversity pundits argue that to best serve the market, one must employ the market. This is because socially diverse groups are more innovative than homogeneous groups, especially when it comes to solving complex problems. But ensuring optimal diversity on several levels when appointing the members of this council was evidently not a priority. For instance, there is only one person of colour on the council.

Furthermore, based on the internet bios available, it appears that none of the people designated to the Canadian seats (five out of ten) have ever been entrepreneurs. On the U.S. side, only two out of the five have founded or co-founded a company: Ivanka Trump and Canadian Annette Verschuren (we are not sure why a Canadian was listed as a member on the U.S. side) even if both did so under profoundly privileged circumstances.

Also, all council members represent companies that are already exporting or importing from the U.S.

The makeup of the council indicates that the selection process prioritized large, well-established corporations with cross-border business interest or perhaps just familiar faces. It also shows that the government officials who organized this initiative see women entrepreneurs and corporate careerists as interchangeable constituencies with indistinguishable concerns. The thing is, they are not the same at all.

Women entrepreneurs and employed women experience the economy and work life very differently. For example, one takes personal financial risk and founds companies, the other works for companies. The former cares deeply about things like equitable access to venture capital, and the impact of small business tax rate hikes; the latter cares more about women’s representation on corporate boards and prospects for women’s career advancement. And while both may share experiences and concerns about sexism and gender-based discrimination, they have entirely different concerns and ergo priorities when it comes to directing policy.

Surely our talented MP Chrystia Freeland and Trudeau’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford could have found at least one smart, Canadian woman founder/entrepreneur who typifies the entrepreneurship experience to join the council, even on short notice.

Forest of Collapsed Roots?

No one yet knows what this council will do, or even can do. Some reports say its creation was simply based on political opportunism and its only impact will be symbolic in nature. In other words, it will amount to nothing more than a well-planned dodge. Other media outlets referred to it as a task force.

Whatever this council ends up doing, I, along with Arlene Dickenson, sincerely hope the latter is not going to be the case. We don’t need another task force on this subject in Canada. We have had plenty. Consider the 2003 Prime Minister’s Task Force on Women Entrepreneurs, the Task Force for Women’s Business Growth report published in 2011, the Expert Panel on Championing and Mentorship for Women Entrepreneurs in 2014, or more recently, the Women Entrepreneur Ontario Collective report published November 2016, just to name a few.

Of them all, the 2011 report is the most recent, comprehensive, large-scale collaborative effort led by a national and non-partisan consortium of prominent women business owners, service agencies, academics, and industry associations. Yet, as of 2017, 2011 Task Force Chair Barbara Orser reports that few of the recommendations, which not surprisingly are similar to recommendations of prior task forces, have been implemented.

And as Canada continues to delay implementing policies and supports that could be of tremendous value to women entrepreneurs and our economy, we also find ourselves falling behind globally. In a new book, The Routledge Companion to Global Female Entrepreneurship, to be published in April 2017, chapter contributor Barbara Orser cites compelling research that shows “while Canada is among leading nations with respect to gender equality as it pertains to employed females, this is not the case for policies to support women entrepreneurs.” In other words, in Canada, we do more for addressing equality issues for employed women that we do for women entrepreneurs.

Orser also argues in the book that one of the reasons for government indifference to the specific needs of Canadian women entrepreneurs is the lack of advocacy, an issue which was identified in 2003, and every task force since.

Nourishing New Seeds

The questions raised by the creation of this council tell us that, like the other initiatives that came before it in which recommendations were not acted upon, perhaps we are just hurtling towards a light that is really just a mirrored reflection of Hood’s ever “intact glass ceiling”. In other words, initiatives like these, including ones far more seriously contemplated, will likely continue to fail because they are set down in a society that has still not yet truly grappled with its deeply rooted cultural and social gender biases.

Nevertheless, on the positive side, the creation of the council is at least something, even if only a small seed tossed onto stoney ground.

And there is a way that we, LiisBethians, can help nourish this seed and increase the likelihood that this initiative can produce positive, lasting outcomes for women entrepreneurs.

Let’s take out our pens and write MP Chrystia Freeland,([email protected]) plus the five Canadian members of the council to ask for their commitment to help implement the recommendations of prior task forces within the next few years. Their contact information can be found here.

But we better do it fast, because who knows if this Council will last for real beyond the day that it met.

THIS WEEK ON LIISBETH

If you missed our presentation and panel at the Feminist Art Conference held on Saturday, Jan. 21, have no fear, a podcast of the entire presentation is now here!

In this 80-minute session, the panelists explored the intersections between gender, entrepreneurship and innovation and how gender shapes entrepreneurial choices, support, access to capital, and the overall experience.

The panelists included Renish Kamal, founder, Fidget Toys, Priya Ramanujam, founder, Urbanology Magazine, Emily Rose Antflick, founder and chief community cultivator, Shecosystem , Allison Hillier, serial entrepreneur and instructional designer, and Valerie Fox, founder, The Pivotal Point .

Great listening for your next run or walk! To hear the podcast now, click here. To download the podcast from our website click here.

FIELD NOTES

R.I.P Julie Rae Weeks: Last week, a leading advocate for women’s rights and entrepreneurship around the world, Julie R. Weeks died on Feb.18, 2017 at the age of 59 as the result of brain cancer. Julie served as Director of Research at the Center for Women’s Business Research in the U.S., Executive Director of the National Women’s Business Council, which advises the U.S. Congress, and Small Business Advisor for the President of the United States. As President and CEO of Womenable, Julie’s national and international activism led her to board positions with: The Association of Women’s Business Centers, for which she served as chair; Enterprising Women Magazine; Global Banking Alliance for Women; International Council for Small Business; International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship; the National Association of Women Business Owners; and WEConnect International. She also served as a Strategic Advisor to Quantum Leaps.

Barbara Orser, a colleague and sometime co-author with Julie says “Julie Weeks was a visionary and connector. She was a thought leader who taught us that all nations must do more to support women’s social and economic rights. Womenable has played a critical role in connecting the global community of researchers, practitioners and policymakers. Her legacy is evidenced in many of the organizations that have made the U.S. a leader in supporting women entrepreneurship. She will be very, very missed.”

For information about her funeral, including webcam access view http://www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com/obituaries/Julie-Weeks/#!/Obituary

This week, SheEO announced its first group of U.S. venture investees! They include ABL Denim, Callisto, Embrace Innovations, Kitables, and The Town Kitchen. For detailed information, visit SheEO.

The 2017 slate of Canadian SheEOs will be announced at the SheEO gala in Toronto, Monday, March 6.

WEConnect Canada has a new Country Director! Chelsea Prescod, former director with Pepper & Lemon, a digital creative strategy enterprise took on her new role in January.

Astrid Pregel, the former head of WEConnect, has moved on to a position with WEConnect International. The corporate-led non-profit, facilitates inclusive and sustainable economic growth by empowering and connecting women business owners globally. It identifies, educates, registers, and certifies women’s business enterprises that are at least 51 per cent owned, managed, and controlled by one or more women.

This week LiisBeth spoke with Yudit Timbo of One Spark, an organization based in Hamilton that provides barrier-free opportunities for women experiencing violence to generate income through entrepreneurship. To find out more visit their website here.

Recommended Reading for Feminist Entrepreneur Policy Geeks

If you are interested in how different feminist outlooks position women in the economy, and how they in turn influence policy making for women’s entrepreneurship in Scandinavian countries, the paper titled “In the name of women? Feminist readings of policies for women’s entrepreneurship in Scandinavia” will be of significant interest.

The paper discusses the presence or absence of feminist theory in research on women’s entrepreneurship, includes definitions of feminist approaches to entrepreneurship and compares women’s entrepreneurship policies in Scandinavia. Not surprisingly, the paper points out that most policies give precedence to neoliberal-style economic growth objectives, and tend to position women as in need of “fixing” and a means to this end. It begs the question, what would entrepreneurship look like for women if guided by alternative feminist outlooks? A shout-out to Barbara Orser for alerting us to it. You can find it here.

In addition, Statistics Canada released a report in November 2016 titled “A Comparison of the Performance of Majority Female-Owned and Majority Male-Owned Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises“. The study examined the impact of gender on enterprise performance for the years 2011 and 2014 on a handful of variables. The key finding? In 2014, women are just as innovative as males. Halleluja! Also, the study says banks today are treating women entrepreneurs looking for debt financing more equally than they did in 2011. This is progress?

What the study doesn’t look at is what percentage of total venture debt financing overall goes to majority-owned women firms in Canada. In her recent presentation in December in Ottawa, Dr. Candida Brush reported that in the U.S., only 4.4 per cent of the total dollars lent to small businesses went to women-led firms. In 2007, Statistics Canada found that “Majority female-owned firms were just as likely to seek to finance as majority male-owned firms in 2007 but were less likely to be approved for debt financing than majority male-owned firms.” So while women might no longer be paying more to fund their ventures than men, the study does not note what % of all lending goes to women.

As is the case with comparing statistics, the devil is in the methodology.

CAN’T MISS EVENTS

March 2: She Started It: A Film Screening, JLABS in Toronto, 5 to 8 p.m. “She Started It” is a new documentary film that follows five trailblazing young female entrepreneurs through their journeys of entrepreneurship. To register, click here.
March 2: AGO’s March First Thursday theme: Still Nasty. The future is Feminist (LiisBeth agrees!) This March, the AGO partners with OCAD University to present a special edition of First Thursday guest curated by OCAD’s graduate class in Criticism and Curatorial Practice. The night’s program aims to explore, through a feminist lens, a future that imagines possibilities for diversity of representation and experiences—a future that is more open, more free, more feminist, and non-deterministicAdvance Tickets: $13 Non-Members / $11 AGO Members*At the Door: $16 Non-Members / $14 AGO Members.7 – 11:30 pm 19+ (ID required) / Cash Bar
March 7: No Safe Space: Harassment of Women in Media by the Canadian Journalism Foundation, Tuesday, March 7, 2017 from 6 to 8:30 p.m., TMZ Broadcast Centre, Toronto. It is not just Internet trolls. These days, it is often not safe for women to speak up anywhere — online, on air and in print. What can be done about the barrage of intimidation, threats, and abusive comments that seem determined to silence our voices? In the lead up to International Women’s Day, we tackle online harassment against women in media. Register here.
March 8: It’s International Women’s Day! Check out events in your city!
March 9: Indigenous awareness training seminar hosted by LiisBeth and Women on the Move in partnership with Bear Standing Tall and Associates, and Juno award-winner Brenda MacIntyre, 2111 Dundas Street West, Toronto, 5 to 8:30 p.m. The three-and-a-half-hour holistic seminar using the medicine wheel framework covers topics including the Truth and Reconciliation process; treaty relationships 101; and challenges created by Canada’s Indian Act and how it affects indigenous women; plus the status and challenges faced by indigenous women entrepreneurs (51 per cent of indigenous women either wholly or partly own a business in Canada versus 47 per cent of non-indigenous women). $35 ($25 for LiisBeth member subscribers). To register, click here.
March 11-12: Indigenous Women’s Entrepreneurship BootCamp – The Aboriginal Women’s Business Entrepreneurship Network (AWBEN) and Pow Wow Pitch, led by Sunshine Tenasco is hosting two days of entrepreneurial coaching in Ottawa on Saturday, March 11 and Sunday, March 12. The program’s goals are to provide a safe, supportive, collaborative, empowering and culturally supportive environment that addresses the unique challenges of female Aboriginal entrepreneurs and aspiring female Aboriginal entrepreneurs, and to promote community leadership as a reflection of respect and reciprocity. The program is accepting 20 indigenous entrepreneurial women and registration is free. You can register here.
March 16: Roxanne Gay, author, introduces her new book Feminism & Difficult Women, Toronto Public Library, 7 to 8:30 p.m. To register, click here.
April 28: HOLD THE DATE! LiisBeth will soon be releasing details about the long awaited Feminist Business Model Canvas Workshop to be held in Toronto at the Centre for Social Innovation at 720 Bathurst. Limited space.

That’s it for this week! And if you are not already doing so, please consider increasing your support of what we do in the form of a paid subscription. Subscription options are $3/month, $7/month and $10/month. We accept PayPal and credit cards. Funds go directly towards paying writers, editors, proofreaders, photo permissions and illustrators.

Our goal is to get to 1,000 email subscribers by March 31!! So please share this newsletter to those you know who might be interested.

The next newsletter is scheduled for March 14.

See you in two weeks!

Be fearless,

Tags Council for Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders, feminist entrepreneur, LiisBeth Newsletter

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