Propel Her Co-Founder Shamsa Lea gave us a sneak peek into her IWD presentation to a female audience at a veterans organisation this March 08.
‘This years IWD theme is Cracking the code: Innovation for a Gender Equal future.
We have all seen the value of diverse perspectives and experiences – and indeed in our careers as female veterans, many of us have persevered even though our contributions were not recognised or acknowledged, because we knew the crucial role our thinking brings.
This theme excites me, particularly in a military context because it refers to a) applying a gender lens to innovation and b) reforming business so that we can hear and champion women’s innovations.
If we had an hour to speak together, I’d focus on the first point and run us through some of the amazing pioneering examples of gender equitable innovations being rolled out around the world that protect women and children in war and disaster. If you are interested in that, I recommend you do some googling tonight or you could start with checking out some of the inspiring pioneering women in science.
As an ADF Gender Advisor, I am also consistently aiming to applying a gender lens to both war and disaster; the evidence is irrefutable that doing so promotes more military effectiveness. The days of feminist perspective and military effectiveness being a zero-sum game are over. If you are still serving as SERCAT 3 through to SERCAT 7, then I highly recommend applying to do the Gender Focal Point or UN Gender Advisor courses run out of Peace Operations Training Centre – the senior instructor is my good friend (and Propel Her Co-Founder) Lyndsay Freeman, and I’ll talk about her a bit later.
Instead I want to zoom in to your own experiences as a servicewoman, and reform for a more equitable military and nation.
I know that for some of us in this room (or reading this online), our military service is mixed. We are proud of our achievements, we made life long friends and we grew in ways we couldn’t have without the ADF. But for many of us, we leave with scars – mental, physical and emotional injuries. You may have experienced sexism, injustice, glass ceilings and yet you still gave your all to your teams. If that’s you today – thank you for your service, thank you for reading this and thank you for paving the way for the next generation of women rising up through the ranks.
Military service shows you the very best and very worst of humanity. Our deployments give us a strong social justice lens and that lens can be exhausting, but, its also your greatest strength and I want to encourage you today that you ARE a badass, you’re surrounded by badasses in this community and even though you might only know one or two people here, this whole group of women has your back. There is something special about the military sisterhood that transcends generations, ranks and even nationalities.
Side story: I used to march with the WAAF on ANZAC days in Brisbane. Afterwards we’d go for a lunch at a hotel and swap stories and those ladies were WILD. I won’t forget hearing an sweet 85 year old lady telling me stories about standing on the hospital roof, flashing the pilots as they flew overhead.
It just reminded me that I am just a link in a chain of women who are moving us all one step closer to equity…and you are also part of that chain.
So how do we continue to progress? We don’t need women’s conferences or a mentoring program telling us how to ask for a raise or how to find a mentor, etc. We need to disrupt the current codes of behaviours, beliefs and systems that foster inequality through innovation, access, and education. We must crack our cultural, economic and social codes and behaviours that entrench inequality.
One way that my colleague MAJ Lyndsay Freeman and I challenged this was through creating Propel Her. We knew that conversations about innovation and Professional Military Education were male-dominated, and most leadership advice was from a male point of view. This privileged lens through which male military members view their career did not resonate with the struggles many females face. Additionally, we couldn’t see a dedicated Australian female voice. So, we launched Propel Her- Defence Women’s Leadership Series, and it was hosted on Grounded Curiosity, one of the most read military blogs in Australia, by the incredible LTCOL Clare O’Neill. You may not realise that Grounded Curiosity is actually self funded by a strong female engineering officer, currently commanding an infantry battalion.
We shared a series of eight articles – sharing our thoughts and the latest research on branding yourself, networking, imposter syndrome, mentoring and more, all in a defence woman context. What happened next was unexpected. We began to receive emails from women who wanted to share their own stories and we realised we had created a safe climate on our blog to allow women to share their thoughts, sometimes for the first time publicly. We are now the largest and most read professional development resource for Defence women, and our readership spans across the globe – with readers of differing backgrounds and genders. We have even brought on two additional editors! Actually, we have a great article on intraprenuership and championing innovation in the ADF with tips and resources that might interest some of you.
This is where I drop in a quick plug to contact the Propel Her team – we are always looking for new stories and guest authors to feature.
What’s the message here? The message is to be bold. Claim your space, we need you to. Just like the women before us, it’s our turn to leave this world a bit more equal than we found it. That is for all of us, certainly this is not just a job for the women. That’s like telling the oppressed group to sort out their own oppression.
Simone Clarke, CEO UN Women Australia says “Our gender equal future is only possible with more women in leadership, financially empowered and able to fully participate – a future where all women are safe and free from violence, at the heart of decision making for inclusive, educated and innovative communities.”
As a Palestinian intersectional feminist that works almost exclusively on First Nations social justice issues, that has been deployed to Afghanistan, Manus Island and The Middle East – I am hyper aware of the sheer privilege I have as an educated white-presenting woman living in Australia.
Yes, we all have multiple layers of oppression piled on us – but we are also in a position to make some noise. Don’t be small, don’t let the demons of your past experiences stop you from claiming your space in this world.
We are 256 years away from closing the global gender pay gap. WA has the largest pay gap in Australia – and it has actually increased. Women are getting abused by the men closest to them, every single minute in this country. The world doesn’t need your small. The world needs your big. We need each other’s big. So lets enjoy this beautiful day, on this beautiful land and then get to work. Thank you.
About the author: Propel Her Co-founder Shamsa Lea is a Program Director and Chief of Staff – Indigenous Leadership Team at Deloitte. In her spare time, she is also a reservist Air Force Logistics Officer, leadership coach and board director of a Veteran Support Organisation. She has been engaged in female recruitment, retention and progression activities in Defence for a number of years, with a specific interest in helping ADF women achieve their leadership potential.