Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, Made a Powerful Speech About Gender Equality in New York City Last Night
Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, has long been a champion for gender equality in the workplace, and last night in New York City, she gave an inspiring speech about the issue at the 18th annual 100 Women in Finance gala.
Early on in her address, the Queen's daughter-in-law acknowledged that while progress is being made in terms of gender balance in the industry, there's still much to do.
"For what feels like quite a period of time, I have been championing the issue of gender balance and diversity in the workplace. In fact it was four years ago that I was addressing this room, and we’ve covered a lot of ground since then," she said.
But she made it clear that men are necessary participants in the continued fight for gender parity.
"We cannot achieve gender balance and diversity alone," she said. "We need everyone, male and female, to support this mission. If we make greater strides towards achieving better parity, then we all stand to win. There will be bigger slices of a bigger cake for everyone."
She also invited those attending the dinner "to become more visible, to be great examples to young women and, if you aren't already—to become champions and mentors."
Over the past five years, the Countess has served as the global ambassador for 100 Women in Finance's investing in the next generation initiatives, which focus on encouraging young women to consider a career in finance, and creating female role models within the industry.
The royal's appearance at last night's event was only part of her involvement with the organization in New York City this week. She also attended a "first impression" dinner for teenage girls with relatives who work in finance, where she told participants to “be brave" and "speak up” according to the royal family's Instagram account.
She also participated in a round-table breakfast discussion with women who are early in their careers, and have fewer than ten years in the industry.
A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily) on Nov 13, 2019 at 8:49am PST
"The Countess is so passionate about this area, so eloquent. At the dinner and at the breakfast this morning, she spoke off the cuff," Amanda Pullinger, the CEO of 100 Women in Finance told T&C at the gala last night.
"She did not have a prepared speech because she is really living and breathing this, and really cares about it. And she's fantastic with the teenage girls and with the next-gen women, asks the right questions, listens to what they're saying. We're very thrilled that she continues to be our global ambassador."
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