Amid Davos, here’s what CEOs should know about the #NextGen

Three years ago when I attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, the social media sphere seemed to light up with a singular focus: women.  

Coca-Cola Chairman Muhtar Kent invoked his three Ws (women, water, well-being) to underscore the necessity of lifting more women into the company’s senior leadership ranks.

IMF leader Christine Lagarde spoke about women having an inherent advantage over men to manage crises.

One after another, titans of the public and private sector chimed in that gender inclusivity was key to a more robust business community -- and society as a whole.

But beneath all the warm feelings and well-intentioned rhetoric, was a cold, hard truth. We’re not there yet. Not even close. Exactly how far women are from parity in pay and power? The World Economic Forum is forecasting another 202 years.

I wasn’t willing to wait that long, so I got to work. From those three days in Davos, Girls With Impact was born. Drawing from my Silicon valley experience, I designed a business school academy for teen girls to change the trajectory of women in the workforce and provide CEOs an opportunity to advance both innovation and #NextGen leaders.

"I can promise you, there are other high-schoolers equally as driven, and if we give them the push and the skill sets, they can become not the future leaders, but the leaders we need, right now."

This year, as I watched CEOs at #Davos2019 like Blackstone’s Steve Schwartzman and SOHO China’s Zhang Zin’s talk about what’s on the business horizon, it’s clear that innovation (think #AI, #robotics and #data) have emerged as big themes. 

Piggybacking off the lessons learned from the gender equity ambitions of my Davos forum, here are three things CEOs and leaders should know if they want to make meaningful advances in the #FutureOfWork:

1. Systemic change moves at a glacial pace. 

It’s no surprise. Aren’t most organizations, by nature, bureaucratic? Change in policies and culture is slow – that is, unless a leader shakes things up. It’s why we still have less than 20% of women in senior roles.

The aha moment we had at Davos was that addressing the root of the problem and getting more women in leadership roles matters, but leaders would be smart to address the root of the solution: the next generation.

Equipping #GenZ women to be CEOs will not only drive our economy and a competitive workforce, but will increase the odds that more women will have the confidence to climb the ladder. Already, we’re seeing 80% of teen girls more likely to major in business or entrepreneurship as a result of early exposure.

2. It’s not just reskilling, it’s upskilling our kids.

Robotics is eliminating jobs -- 40% by some predictions. As Wharton professor Adam Grant points out from Davos, basic reporting of facts is automatable. If you’re a lawyer, you, too should worry. And any numbers-crunching or analytics can also be automated.

Yes, we need to retrain adults for new jobs, but that’s only a piece of the issue. And, as China fights to be the next Silicon Valley, what are we doing here at home to better equip our kids?

3. Entrepreneurship is the future, and our youth must be prepared.

Experts predict that 65% of kids entering primary school will have jobs that don’t yet exist. If America wants to compete, it needs to better skill our youth and equip them to be flexible, collaborate, and most importantly, inventive.

Schools around the country are starting to turn to project-based or entrepreneurial learning, but our data shows those programs are hit-or-miss -- and they are far more common in privates versus publics.

Jody Bell, a senior at a public high school and graduate of the Girls With Impact Academy who made international news with her venture, says that youth like her want to be trained to be leaders.

"I can promise you, there are other high-schoolers equally as driven, and if we give them the push and the skill sets, they can become not just future leaders, but the leaders we need, right now," says Jody, 16.

As leaders in Davos rethink innovation and how to get ahead of it, it is imperative that they turn to the next generation of women. 

Jennifer Openshaw is the CEO of Girls With Impact. Access the Proving the Power of NextGen Women report.