Breaking the Bias

March is Women’s History Month and home to International Women’s Day (IWD). This year's IWD theme is #BreakTheBias which urges an attitude of intolerance to biases, with the goal of creating a more inclusive, gender-equal world.

One path toward breaking the patterns of bias begins with helping young girls understand that they will grow up to be strong women. We asked some Zinier parents to speak with their daughters about what it meant to be a strong woman.

Prateek Chakravarty, CEO, got these responses from his twin daughters.

• ‍Mireya: "A strong woman is one who is caring, sincere, and does good things for the world (like taking care of marine animals and reducing pollution)."‍
• Myeisha: "A strong woman is one who is independent, is a leader, and takes care of people and animals.

When asked to identify a strong woman, both said "mom."

‍Tia, the daughter of Animesh Shrivastava, Engineering Manager, offered several words and phrases to describe strong women:  Assertive, confident, doesn't depend on anyone, she stands out. And who is a strong woman in Tia's eyes? "Mama."

‍Maria Luisa, the 3-year-old daughter of Tania Rendic, Zinier's Head of Operations, offered this response when asked what does it mean to be a strong woman? “To be able to reach the roof, fight monsters, and buy lots of presents. Mommy is the strongest woman in the world….” She also noted that "strong women need to be able to reach the kitchen countertop, the clock hanging on the wall, the lights, their keys, and be able to fly, run fast, break hard sticks." (Tania notes that Maria Luisa went on to talk about how she can already speak with monsters.)

The strong woman who first came to mind for Wynnie, the daughter of Josh Gleason, Zinier's Head of Marketing, was Luisa from Encanto ("because she can lift up donkeys and churches"), along with Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, and...Wynnie ("because I can lift up big heavy rocks").

Here are a few ways you can get involved in International Women's Day and Women's History Month:

• Donate to a charity helping women
• Find a way to support a woman-owned business
• ‍Host or attend an IWD online panel
• ‍Show your support on social media

You can keep up with Zinier's efforts at promoting diversity and inclusion by following us on LinkedIn.