Dear ProWoc Family
What a year 2021 has been!
Wait…we said the same thing last year … but we really need to repeat ourselves. We never imagined that 2021 would surpass our expectations and be yet another phenomenal year for ProWoc.
And with deep gratitude, we say THANK YOU to our members, our supporters, our collaboration partners, our ambassadors, our sponsors, our advisory board, our ProWoc Board, and Committee volunteers for making 2021 another growth year for ProWoc.
In this year-end greeting, we present some of the highlights of 2021.
ProWoc as Thought-leaders and change makers
We catapulted into the year by bringing to the forefront, the voices of women of colour in Denmark. In front-page articles in Djøfbladet (January 2021) and Børsen (February 2021), ProWoc Founders and Board members described some of the challenges that underrepresented minorities face in the Danish workplace. The features highlighted the increased focus on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in workplaces in Denmark and how organisations such as ProWoc are helping companies and individuals bridge the gap in talent requirements and address unconscious biases. Again, in November, in another Børsen article, ProWoc Founder highlighted the need for role models as a way of changing the dismal status quo where only 0.13% of leaders and board members in the top 50 Danish companies have an ethnic minority background.
Throughout the year, we expressed thought-leadership in a series of topics within leadership, Diversity, and Inclusion by participating in many podcasts, workshops, and panel discussions: University of Southern Denmark NOS conference on utilizing non-Danish human capital (May 2021), Courage Podcast on Transformational Leadership (July 2021), AmCham Denmark and the US embassy Panel Discussion on Elevating Women in into Leadership (June 2021), Diversity Council HR Workshop on ethnic diversity and attracting all talents (September), to name a few.
The First ProWoc Conference on Allyship
The highlight of the year was executing the very first ProWoc Annual Conference, “The Power of Allyship: Partnering for Change”. The conference was a resounding success and brought together an impressive line-up of distinguished speakers who were leaders and experts in their field and champions of Diversity, Inclusion, and Allyship. These speakers were from across different ethnicities, sexes, industries, and ages who all provided valuable perspectives and insights. “Let us act like allyship magnets to attract as many allies and accomplices and make sustainable change” was one message that resonated with it. Indeed, it is not solely the responsibility of the underrepresented group to take all the actions and make change alone. Allyship is required. Allyship is needed. It is an investment that will benefit all of Danish society.
Celebrating our Role Models
There is no denying that role models are important and a critical element to making change. At ProWoc we firmly believe in the power of role modelling.
“You can’t be, what you can’t see” Marian Wright Edelman.
There is a great need for role models to help increase ethnic diversity in Danish businesses.
The ProWoc Impact Award celebrates the achievements of extraordinary Women of Colour in Denmark who have achieved outstanding success and have worked to advance and support others. They have had a tremendous impact and are great role models for generations to come.
We are proud to announce that the ProWoc Impact Award Recipient for 2021 is Dr. Poornima Luthra.
At the conference, we also recognized and celebrated the contributions of our ProWoc Volunteers: Volunteer of the Year (Sondra Duckert), Committee of the Year (Communication and Visibility Committee), Ambassador of the Year (Carriene Rendbo), and Miss Congeniality of the year (Nyeleti Sue-Angel Nkuna).
Strong Programming for personal and professional development
In 2021, ProWoc continued to offer relevant programming for our members such as CV workshops, mentoring, and wellness.
We believe in the power of role modeling and have expanded our Mentoring in number and to include reverse mentoring. Program mentors and mentees inspire each other and together build a strong and sustainable group of women leaders.
Leading by example and nurturing the professional and personal development of others is fundamental to creating more role models who can change the status quo and create a more inclusive and diverse workplace and society.
As a supplement to our mentoring Program, in March 2021, we introduced our coaching program ProWAccelerate that offers you access to world-class coaches from diverse backgrounds and disciplines and who have been trained at the Henley Business School.
We also introduced a new program “ProWalk & Talk Danish where ProWoc members are matched with a native Danish speaker to improve their Danish and Cultural understanding.
Building Network and Community
In 2021, we continued to build community and network in virtual events and in-person, as the pandemic policies allowed. We were inspired by HerStory sessions with Dr. Tara Heitner and Dr. Rahma Elmahdi and our signature Exclusive Conversations with Chandre Torpet and Dr. Poornima Luthra challenged our views on career trajectories and unconscious bias. Through participation in Internation Citizens Day, we provide welcome and a safe space for women of colour who are new to Denmark. We enjoyed meeting informally at restaurants and going to the theatre. We build and strengthen relationships through conversation and laughter.
Sponsors/Collaboration
Last, but not least, in 2021, we were thrilled to announce a new sponsor, Deloitte Denmark. Deloitte is a strong advocate for Diversity and Inclusion, and part of their corporate agenda is to ensure that everyone feels they can be themselves and thrive at work—in every country and in everything they do. This is very closely aligned to ProWoc’s own mission to help develop a safe space for women of colour to connect, grow, and evolve in their workplace. The collaboration will focus on jointly developing a range of initiatives and providing support and sponsorship to selected ProWoc programs geared towards the professional development of women including an expansion of the ProWoc Mentoring Program.
We were of course pleased to continue our collaboration with Djøf, Unique Human Capital, Female Invest, Goldstein Consulting, and many others in 2021.
We take on 2022 with hope and optimism
As we transition into 2022, we step out invigorated and hopeful, confident, and appreciative about what is to come, what we will become. We will celebrate our 3rd anniversary and we are thrilled to discover what gifts and treasures we will find in 2022.
We look forward to growing together as a community and together making the change we want to see. We will unite with our allies to generate awareness, address biases, and foster a truly inclusive culture that makes everyone feel safe and valued at work and in Danish society; and where no one feels the need to code-switch.
We have planned an exciting array of programs and networking events designed to meet your professional and career needs.
Stay tuned for more details in the new year.
Here’s to a transformational and fulfilling 2022!
Warm wishes, good health, and happiness to you and your families in this Holiday Season and beyond.
from Phaedria, on behalf of the ProWoc Team.
