The Gender Gap
It’s no secret that gender disparities and inequalities still exist. And gender inequality in the workplace today goes beyond the pay gap. The wage gap has narrowed to less than 5%, but this isn’t enough. 59% of women still feel like they have fewer opportunities because of their gender. 88% of women say they feel as though they are addressed differently than male colleagues. And only 4.2% of CEOs in America’s fortune 500 are women. And as a company with two female CEOs, we are acutely aware of this and believe in closing this gap.
We thought it a fit time to celebrate some of our favorite fellow female CEOs.
1. Kamakshi Sivraramakrishnan, CEO of Drawbridge – For Being a Disruptor
Sivaramakrishnan didn’t build one of the fastest-growing women-led companies on the Inc. 5000 (6th overall on the list) because she was afraid to shake things up. She recognized that there was a large opportunity for her to innovate and disrupt, and that she could do it faster if she left Google and started her own organization.
The number of women leading AdTech is dismal, and Sivaramakrishnan is fully aware of this. She notes leading as a female in this industry requires her to “focus on what I have to say, rather than how I look or how I say it.”
At Emotive Brand, we believe driving growth as Sivaramakrishnan has done at Drawbridge hinges on an organization’s ability to disrupt and drive growth. We recently predicted that 2017 will be all about disruption and admire Drawbridge’s CEO for recognizing the power of disruption early on. Kamakshi and Drawbridge are also a client of Emotive Brand.
2. Maria Eital, CEO of the Nike Foundation – For Demonstrating Social Responsibility
As a female CEO, Eital has dedicated the Nike Foundation’s mission to gender equality. All her initiatives are focused on creating a better life and education for girls age 10-19 who live in the developing world. From encouraging a full education for girls in Zambia, to helping young girls avoid early marriage in Ethiopia, or building rural learning centers in Bangladesh, Eital has turned the Nike Foundation around. The Foundation demonstrates a strong commitment to creating change and helping girls play an active role in their future. And this dedication to bettering the lives of girls around the world is admired by us at Emotive Brand.
3. Miki Agrawal, CEO of Thinx – For Challenging the Status Quo
Thinx, led by changemaker, Miki Agrawal, is a prime example of a brand that is unafraid of challenging the status quo and inspiring a new conversation. By approaching what was a taboo industry from a new angle, Agrawal has built a brand that has re-written the expectations of the industry – empowering women, making periods powerful, and addressing the societal issues that surround menstruation globally. No more flowers and sunshine. Not only has she won over millennials, she has become an international icon for feminism and socially-conscious business today as well as one of our favorite female leaders of the year.
4. Jennifer Rasiah, CEO of Givesurance – For Leading with Purpose
For us, Jennifer Rasiah, is the epitome of a purpose-led leader. With 15 years of experience in the insurance industry under her belt, she decided she needed to make a change – a meaningful change. Identifying an opportunity to leverage her deep knowledge of the industry and her innate desire to give back, she created Givesurance and changed the insurance industry as we knew it.
Instead of spending 50% of commission on acquiring and retaining customers through agents, Givesurance leverages the company’s established partnerships with charities to pass along donations to non-profits. Essentially, Givesurance users can help the world at no additional cost to them. By supporting a diverse and constantly expanding range of causes from global development non-profits to local food and clothing banks, Givesurance produces a personalized sense of giving for both individuals and businesses.
When we interviewed Rasiah, she noted that as a purpose-led leader, she “can’t stop until she’s made the difference she needs to.” And this commitment is something worth commending.
5. Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, CEO of theSkimm – For Keeping Us Informed
Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin are a female duo worth looking up. They noticed how indigestible and overwhelming news and the infinite news sources at our fingertips can be – especially for busy people today. This drove them to create the theSkimm, a daily email blast that delivers news in a punchy, easily digestible way, giving millennials (their target market) everything they need to know.
For us at Emotive Brand, we know first-hand how important it is to be connected and informed about what’s happening in the larger world is. It matters to our business and how we create strategy as well as how we behave as individuals in the world as a whole. We’re thankful that Danielle and Carly created a way for us to go about our busy lives and still have time to stay informed.
We hope that celebrating these female CEOs and the many other women who are closing the gender gap one step at a time will inspire others to take lead with purpose, be bold, and make a splash in the world today.
Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design agency.
