Women’s Fresh Perspectives Breakfast: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think)

The final General Session of the #GPFS2024 was the highly-anticipated, all-access Women’s Fresh Perspectives Breakfast. For the first time ever, the session was included in the all-access pass, so more people were welcome to attend the session in order to learn about a future where women are empowered and everyone is valued for their contributions to the workplace.

The morning began by naming the winner of the Frieda Rapoport Caplan Women's Catalyst Award, Brenda Briggs, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Rice Fruit Company. In addressing the audience, she noted that it was so refreshing to see men in the room. She thanked her peers for their support, stating that they filled her up, and gave her purpose in the workplace.

From there, Reshma Saujani was introduced. A leading activist and Founder of Girls Who Code and Moms First, she shared that first and foremost, she’s a refugee from Uganda. As the daughter of engineers, her parents always wanted what was best for her. And so she grew up striving for perfection, getting into Yale, and working as an attorney.

By the age of 33, she hated her job. She decided to quit and run for office – which was not a successful venture, but turned out to be the best 10 months of her life, as it inspired what came next.

She would visit New York City classrooms and see rows of boys in computer classes. Where were the girls? Well, the 1990s culture of technology turned them off of computers. All of the boys wanted to be the next Mark Zuckerberg, but that was not an appealing avenue for girls.

Saujani wanted girls of working class backgrounds to be able to have all the opportunities their male counterparts did in the world of coding and technology. Since founding Girls Who Code, the program has seen over 650,000 female students. While the industry consisted of 19% of women in the early 2010s, she continues to strive for 50%.

In a world that encourages women to be perfect, she suggested that women should practice imperfection. Women may re-read emails for typos and spend much more time on a simple task than they should. Send the email! The amount of judgement for a typo will be a lot less than you expect.

Saujani also encouraged female attendees to “do things we suck at” or try a new hobby. She learned to swim at age 45 and wanted to learn to surf as well. Too often, we stick to what we know, and it holds us back.

“When you start building bravery in your personal life, it will lead to bravery in your professional life,” said Saujani. Structures can hold women back, but they can also lead to positive changes. Just as she thought she had everything figured out, the COVID-19 pandemic began. This led her to identify the amount of caregiving that falls on women – why not men?

Saujani feels fortunate to recognize her purpose and says that we all have the power to make the world a better place – we just have to “use that bravery.” With the men present in today’s audience, they are as equally responsible in creating a culture where women can thrive professionally.

Women’s Fresh Perspectives Breakfast: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think)

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