Source of information – Zawya
Dubai, UAE – Boosting the number of women at work is not just a moral imperative but also fosters creativity and has a measurable impact on the bottom line. According to the World Economic Forum, however, we will not see gender parity in our lifetimes. Estimates show it will take on average another 99.5 years, and for some countries over 200 years. Cultural bias, and in some cases labour regulations, are a threat to inclusion and advancement to leadership positions.
One organization that is striving to challenge the gender parity timeline and accelerate change is iSAW (International Smart Advancing Women). It is an international professional women’s organization for those who are seeking to connect, grow, inspire, and be empowered through compelling experiences. It does this by leveraging strategic networks, mentoring, ongoing personal development, local, regional and international learning opportunities a sisterhood of support and engaged iSAW Male Champions, whilst remaining aware of the realities of their society. iSAW was formally launched in 2019 and has supported related events and workshops. iSAW will launch the LIFT (Learning and Intelligence For Tomorrow) platform in March 2021, according to Ebtehal Kaied Alrewaily, Co-founder of iSAW
Powered by Unily, a leading enterprise digital workplace provider, LIFT is an innovative learning and intelligence habitat for women to collaborate and hone their professional skills and personal power to advance in the business world. This should pioneer a distinctive and impactful change. “We all know the power of technology can change the world; iSAW is excited to partner with Unily to launch our LIFT platform, bringing the full force of their award-winning digital technology, converted to multiple languages, to address gender inequality in the workplace in a way never done before,” said Nancy Speidel, iSAW Founder and CEO.
Using next-generation features, the LIFT platform uses Unily’s technology to target members’ professional interests, provide access to international thought leaders, subject matter experts and global networks to enhance their career fulfilment and raise their awareness on gender parity opportunities across the globe. iSAW also holds local and global events and workshops to engage with its international audience. This is a great opportunity for companies in the Middle East who have a sizeable female workforce but do not have a detailed Learning and Development plan on career guidance, knowledge sharing, and mentorship says Ebtehal Alrewaily.
“Our plan for the Middle East is to raise awareness on the value that women bring to the workplace by using facts, data and working closely on the ground. We hope to create a forum of collective minds that aims to advance gender equality globally,” explained Ebtehal Alrewaily.
The iSAW LIFT platform also aims to:
- Provide members with a synopsis of key data and insights usually buried in huge reports.
- Remove barriers to global communication and sharing.
- Create a community (virtual and in-person) featuring iSAW’s global thought leaders and interact with members facing similar challenges.
- Drive a values-based culture of constant striving to learn, lead and lift others.
Ebtehal Alrewaily firmly believes that male support for the progress of women is critical in ensuring women have opportunities to advance and thrive. Male champions are appreciated, valued and needed to ensure the success of iSAW’s vision, and initiatives. “It is through the experience of men who have gone before us that we get support. It is men in positions of influence, decision making and co-workers who can be role models that women get support to thrive and bring their unique and important contributions,” opines Ebtehal Alrewaily.
About iSAW
International Smart Advancing Women or iSAW, is an organization with a mission to make a dramatic impact for women in the workplace and to contribute to narrowing the gender equality gap globally. Founded by Nancy Speidel, a senior leader in Information Technology, and co-founded by Ebtehal Alrewaily, an international scholarship recipient with a masters in Physics, and Lynn O’Connor, a diversity and inclusion director, iSAW thrives on a combination of their areas of expertise, creating an innovative digital solution to expedite the advancement of gender equality. The iSAW Foundation is chaired by Martin Elliot, VP of Information Technology, who also brings a wealth of experience in technology and is a champion for gender equality.
iSAW’s services are underpinned by its virtual LIFT (Learning and Intelligence For Tomorrow) platform, powered by Unily, an award-winning digital workplace technology creating interactive information streams, in multiple languages, tailored to individual iSAW members interests. iSAW is headquartered in the USA and UK, with activities in over 20 countries and expanding worldwide. iSAW is currently working with nine Universities and over 300 students to support its efforts and create content for its GRID – Gender Research Insights Database. To learn more about iSAW, its offerings and how you can become a member, please visit www.iSAW.org.
About Unily
Unily is an award-winning digital workplace solution designed to improve organizational productivity, efficiency, and engagement. It offers global workforces the ability to communicate and collaborate from any device, anywhere serving as a driver for digital transformation. The company recently attained ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification for its information security management standards, and it is proud to be a Microsoft Gold Partner. Unily serves its customers through offices in Surrey, UK; New York; Seattle, and Sydney. To learn more about Unily and its offerings, please visit www.unily.com. Send us your press releases to pressrelease.zawya@refinitiv.com
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