Shagun Sethi’s Post

One of the biggest gifts in this world is to be surrounded by people who believe in good, do good and find ways to help you see good in the world. Finding people to inspire me has been a fundamental part of my personal leadership journey and I have been beyond privileged to meet mentors and friends who have opened doors for me to be in rooms full of joy, learning and mutual growth. Opportunity Collaboration has filled my cup (& heart & tummy) in more ways than one - I have had the absolute honor of meeting the most brilliant people in the world - people working everyday to make our world a better place, working to see the light at the end of the tunnel, working to help you see your own light. I was delighted to facilitate (two) conversations of change on 'Gender and Climate Change' with Louisa Trackman and 'Centering Women and Girls of Colour' with Ada both women who I am excited to continue learning from and collaborating with. I am more sure than ever that the only way we 'fix the world' is together. Shoutouts to my people at OneShared.World (Jamie Metzl, Manoj Panjwani & Michael Kulma), Wedu (Claire Naylor-Trein) and Opportunity Collaboration (Topher Wilkins & Jessica Loman) for believing in me and making this possible 🥰

Working with inspiring women is like experiencing a sunny day in the midst of a week with snow storms. It fills me with hope, and joy and reaffirms my resilience and drive to do what I do. I am incredibly privileged to get the opportunity to not only work with these women but also to find ways to learn and unlearn with them. Last month, for the U.S Mission to ASEAN's Women's Leadership Academy, we at Wedu gathered over 50 young women who work in the field of climate resilience across Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore and Timor Leste. These women are scientists and engineers and teachers and researchers - but most of all, they are committed to making the world a better place. As I unpack everything I learned from our participants, I have only one thing to say to all young girls out there - be loud, occupy space, show up, speak up but most of all, open doors for those walking with and behind you. I am who I am today because of the incredible people around me that opened doors for me - doors of opportunity, of love, of hope, and of trust. And if there’s anything we can do to get more women at the table, it’s to just open the door, any door, create space, invite them, we rise together!

Conversations about climate change, environmental degradation and the urgent need to take action are engulfing us - from pop culture to international conferences, protocols, and decisions. This is the crisis of our times. However, I can't help but notice the number of people missing in these conversations and rooms. I can't help but see a lack of women. I can't help but recognize the elitist, often male-dominated method of problem-solving. Mostly, I can't help but feel saddened by the lack of voices of young, fierce women of colour. I can't help but observe a 'west-centric', exclusionary history repeat itself. Climate change affects all of us - but some more than others. Women and other vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by the crisis. Women are far more dependent on natural resources than men and are more likely to face a threat to their lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems because they constitute a majority of the population living in poverty. Yet, these women are missing - from conversations, conferences, decision making tables, newspapers and popular narratives. We just do not see women of colour have space in any of these rooms. With this in mind, it was such an honor to kick off women's history month with an important and urgent conversation on the role of women in addressing the climate crisis. I spoke with Jainey Bavishi, the Administrator U.S. NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration for a special session on 'What would the world look like if women led climate change efforts?' as part of the 2023 U.S Mission to ASEAN Women's Leadership Academy for Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI). At Wedu, as we plan and implement the Women's Leadership Academy, we are beyond excited to explore more such conversations with our brilliant participants and create more spaces and platforms for them to own the incredible work they are doing for climate resilience. #WomenForE4

Most of the spaces we occupy today and the bodies that govern laws, rules, and enforce rights have been shaped by majority populations, in ancient times when states and state systems were developed. This process was largely exclusionary, catering to one demographic, and extremely discriminatory. Today, as we enter an era of a new public space, a digital space defined and redefined by technological advancements (like the Metaverse), we have the unique opportunity to develop frameworks, tools and mechanisms for this space which are inherently inclusive and are designed by all populations, especially including those who have been historically excluded - women, people of colour and indigenous people (and others!). It has been my absolute honor to work with Emily Arnold-Fernandez, Jamie Metzl, James Clarke Lanister, and Sandi Gendi to research and develop this thinkpiece on developing the first 'Constitution for the Metaverse: Key Principles for the Creation Process'. Here is our paper, we look forward to continued discussions and welcome and all conversation - https://lnkd.in/dY73NuYn Finally, with this dialogue in partnership with 92nd Street Y featuring Gayatri Khandhadai, David Waslen, Philip Rosedale in conversation with Brittan Heller, we start the conversation about this extremely interesting, incredibly timely and contextually urgent issue. https://lnkd.in/dthuGnxw

If there is anything you read today, it should be this report on DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) by Rights Collab - https://lnkd.in/ddTQW9uW For a couple of years now organizations across the globe have started adopting DEI language and marketing strategy - but how effective is this? Does it have a measurable impact? What benchmarks exist to understand this? This report analyzes the reporting metrics used by 21 influential organizations and seeks to provide a firm foundation for a productive discussion on what metrics we use to measure performance in this important area in order to achieve delivery on these goals. Congratulations Professor Joanne Bauer and team, this is fundamental work extremely important for the way the world adopts DEI in practice!

Growing up, women around me rarely accessed higher education - marriage was the acceptable and common path for most, but more than that, I hardly saw women who looked like me in leadership positions, tables of decision making, and/or occupying important platforms at these universities and organizations I dreamt of. My inquiry into gender and the lack of inclusivity began then - why couldn't I see myself up there? Naturally then, my Master's thesis titled 'Women at Work: Deconstructing Gendered Representations of Female CEOs' focused on the idea of identity and imagery in women's empowerment and leadership. I researched and wrote about the concept of identity as more than a one-dimensional entity - what do female leaders look like? What spaces do they occupy? What do their images and representations communicate? How does representation affect the numbers of women in leadership positions? What does it mean to be a female leader in our times? I am far away from being the leader I wrote about in my thesis - but as I graduated from Columbia, I recognized the privilege and space I was able to occupy. Wearing a saree to my graduation was important personally and professionally. Personally, it gave me the opportunity to bring a piece of my personal revolution to campus passed on to me from my grandma. Professionally, I hope I can be a small vehicle of representation, I hope it helps that 14-year-old girl with big black hair, brown skin, and a different, local accent realize that she has a place in the world, that she can see herself here, just like I did. #grad2022

In all our urgency to do more, reach higher grounds and achieve consistently, we forget to just be - to acknowledge the moment, our community and our space for what it is. We put so much emphasis on outputs and results that sometimes our values, identities and personhood - arguably the most important components of life - are omitted, abandoned and neglected. I was reminded to stop and take a second to think about myself and how I show up everyday in the world, in a conversation I had with Maame Afon Yelbert-Sai when she said - “I am not a human doing, I am a human being”. So who are you when you’re not ‘doing’? What is your ‘being’? #community #thoughtleadership #women #identity #diversity

Hello! I am hiring on an urgent basis for an Event Management Intern based in Bangkok Thailand - the position begins immediately (or as soon as possible) and is a three-month engagement. This is to support me (Wedu) in conducting the YSEALI Women's Leadership Academy for (female) Human Rights activists across South East Asia! It's a paid position and requires a commitment of 20 hours/ week. Please help me spread the word and share with your networks! Job Description and Details: https://lnkd.in/gqzuXVnv #womenchangemakers #leadership #development #southasia #hiring #paidinternship #hiringnow

The sustainability revolution is much like the industrial revolution - it will change the way we organize and work, socially and politically, forever. However, everything green is not good, is not better and is certainly not always inclusive. In this moment then, we have a chance to write a revolution with equality and fair representation - here is my take on inclusivity in sustainability for WARC. Thank you for having me write for this Spotlight feature! https://lnkd.in/dYxZapiC Biprorshee Das #sustainability #inclusion #inclusiveleadership #esg #representation #socialdevelopment