Women in Business: Building an equal world

Women in Business: Building an equal world

GirlBoss New Zealand is a social enterprise established to address gendered inequality in STEM, as well as in entrepreneurship and leadership. I was compelled to establish the organisation, at the age of 16, in response to my own experiences in school. I was 15 before I met a female software engineer. At 16, I was the only girl in my digital technology class and at 17, I was the only girl studying advanced physics. I started GirlBoss because I knew that something had to change. GirlBoss New Zealand has 13,500 members and runs workshops, internships, online courses and in-school programmes. We’ve grown to be the country’s largest organisation for women. Money has been used as a tool to control women for far too long. Now, more than ever, the world needs women to own their financial future. Globally, only 3 per cent of VC funding goes to female led startups. We need to invest in female founders and back women-owned businesses. We know that women are capable and exceptional business leaders. Women should not be confined to any one sphere, they can lead everywhere. The rules of the past are made to be broken. The Covid-19 pandemic has heavily impacted