SHIMA Networking Power Hour | Women In The Workplace Series

This is a BIMA Member only session. For more information on becoming a BIMA Member visit the BIMA Site or email web@bima.co.uk

Don’t mind the gap, mend it!

SHIMA: Aiming to mobilise BIMA members to ‘mend the gap’ and overcome gender and other equality gaps, creating inclusive workplaces and increase business performance for everyone.

To support women in business, digital and tech; BIMA is hosting an online conversation with its women members, those who identify as women, and women allies.

In this session, we’ll focus on the experiences of women without children.

Why consider this group?

• Close to 1 in 5 women don’t have children.
• The percentage of women who are childless in 2020 has remained consistent since the late 1950’s. [18.1% of women born in 1975 have no children.] ONS Data (2022)
• “Among women who turned 45 in 2021 almost one in five – 18% – were without children, a big rise compared with the 13% of their mothers’ generation who did not become a parent.” https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jan/27/women-child-free-30-ons
• Not having children is sometimes a personal choice, but it may also be a situation over which women have no control.
• This sensitive issue is often not discussed in the workplace.

We would like to spark the conversation to gain insight into the workplace experiences of women without children.

• What are the prevalent assumptions shaping their experiences?
• What are the implications of these assumptions?
• Are they able to compete more effectively for opportunities or do they absorb more work?
• How can we make workplaces more accommodating to women without children?
• These are some of the issues we’ll be diplomatically discussing in relation to this complex topic.

We’ll aim to create a safe space for sharing relevant personal experiences and model ways to begin to have these conversations in the workplace.

What to expect:

In each Power Hour session you will get to make a meaningful connection with up to five fellow attendees.

You will be put into breakout rooms at random for one-to-one conversations that will last 20 minutes — enough time to develop rapport , brainstorm and improvise solutions in a quick-fire manner, and see if there is mutual interest to find out more.

Who is it for?

This event is open to BIMA and non-BIMA members referred by a BIMA member. Due to the sensitive nature of the discussion, it will operate with the strictest confidentiality and Chatham House Rules.

Please note: the Zoom waiting room will open at 10.50am so we can start promptly at 11.00am, unfortunately we cannot permit late entrants.

Speakers:

Emily Monsell-Holden, Brand and Marketing Consultant

With two decades’ experience in brand, marketing & PR, Emily helps organisations grow stronger and more sustainable, building brand equity every step of the way.

She takes a thoughtful approach, based on deep listening and holistic thinking, to integrate brand and culture. She is an advocate for regenerative business and a member of the global conscious brands think thank, Medinge Group. She is also a TEDx speaker and the host of Year-on-Year, a podcast dedicated to long-term thinking in business.

Emily is a brand and marketing consultant specialising in helping purpose-led SMEs. She is a woman without children, and in June she spoke about her experience at TEDx Winchester.

She’s also a mentor for marketing managers and the host of Year-on-Year podcast, dedicated to long-term thinking in business.

Ann Longley, Founder of Something New Together and BIMA South Community Lead

Ann is the founder of Something New Together, a strategic design consultancy that helps businesses navigate volatility enabled by digital, data, technology and a customer-centric culture. She has worked with big brands, governments, and non-profits for +20 years honing her craft skills in marketing, digital strategy, and innovation. She has created award-winning integrated campaigns, digital and customer experience strategies, new products, services and introduced new ways of working that unify teams around a shared purpose.

She also works in business education as a Visiting Lecturer with the University of Greenwich helping tomorrow’s leaders develop their brand, digital and marketing skills and know-how. At the community level, through her work with BIMA and theRSA.org’s Digital Steering Group, Ann is focused on using digital, data, and technology to drive positive social, environmental and economic impacts.

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