The future is female and diverse

The title of this newsletter is a sentence that cannot be said, written, read and chanted enough*.

This past Saturday March 8th, on International Women’s Day, I joined the Feminist March in Amsterdam together with nearly 20.000 (!) other feminists. Two days before, I visited London and had the privilege to attend a charity concert in the Royal Albert Hall, organised by Annie Lennox’s charity foundation The Circle ngo, supporting women and girls all over the world. So I guess you can say: feminism is at the top of my mind this week and it will probably stay there for some time.

The concert

At the beginning of my search for new work I bought the ticket of this concert as a gift to myself, for turning my (work)life around. At the time I didn’t know The Circle and started reading about it.

To be honest, I wanted to see Annie Lennox live, that’s what it was all about. And boy, did she deliver! It was one of the best concerts of my life, because of 70 year old Annie, her energy and her still amazing-sounding voice, because of all the extra guest artists (e.g. Celeste, Beverly Knight, Lola Lennox, Hozier and Paloma Faith) and because it brought my attention to this incredible charity that supports women and girls all over the world. Read about it here:

The evening in the Royal Albert Hall was an evening of hope, solidarity and BIG emotions! You can probably understand that after this concert, I was VERY ready to attend the feminist march.

Feminism is at the top of my mind this week and it will probably stay there for some time.

The feminist march

It was incredible to be there last Saturday, together with so many people. It was great to see such a diverse group of people there, children, women of all ages, queer folks and many men as well.

I felt that this march was about so much more than feminism and therefore equality for all. To me it felt like an expression of all anger and frustration about the current events on the world stage, including trying to set back the path towards a female future, equality and diversity. And the good thing is: all of this happened in an energising and peaceful manor with an atmosphere of hope. Even bystanders on the streets of Amsterdam were cheering us on and were amazed by the size of the crowd.

I am very passionate about diversity and inclusion; I have actively participated in putting it on the agenda in the workplace and hope to continue to do so in the future. Especially now, it is crucial to keep doing that*. All companies, institutions, schools, universities etc benefit from a diverse workplace. Representation matters!

"All companies, institutions, schools, universities etc benefit from a diverse workplace. Representation matters!"

So let us please keep fighting this evil patriarchy that is holding the world in its claws at the moment and focus on the path forward. The future is female and diverse and we need women and men and everybody in between to fight for it.

Let’s goooo. And thank you for reading this important edition of this newsletter!

Co ☕️

*Especially because a certain tiran president is trying to hold on to an evil kind of patriarchy, driven by fear, by e.g. banning words like WOMAN and DIVERSITY from science based research. Read and listen about that HERE (in Dutch) https://www.nporadio1.nl/nieuws/buitenland/dcec453e-6238-4c63-a04a-795d6c8ac45e/wetenschap-onder-vuur-trump-schrapt-onderzoek-naar-vrouwen-en-diversiteit

P.S. check out a great recap of the concert on Instagram HERE https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG-V9fjoxOn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==