Reflecting on TEDxGreekStWomen 2022

Last night I had the pleasure of hosting my annual TEDxGreekStWomen event - always a highlight of my year. Huge thanks to our three wonderful speakers, all accomplished change-makers, who shared thoughts around the ways in which turbulent times can create moments of opportunity. Today, we still remain a long way from gender parity, so it’s important to have these safe spaces in which we can raise each other up as we keep pushing for positive change.

There were too many thoughtful and inspiring comments to list – from digital inclusion specialist Frances West’s learnings around helping businesses to grow through purposeful innovation; having spent over 30 years in IBM where she helped to operationalise diversity and inclusion. Frances spoke powerfully about the need for authentic leadership – listing positivity, curiosity and integrity as key factors. “It’s important to learn about people, countries, situations, abilities – to celebrate everybody’s possibilities and to navigate based on purpose, principles and values.” she said. “This is invisible but fundamental. It helps us to navigate uncharted waters.”

Fiona Rogers, Parasol Foundation Curator of Women in Photography for the Victoria & Albert Museum and an expert on diversity in the Arts, shared her own experiences as well as her excitement about a new curatorial programme she’s leading at the V&A which looks at gender imbalance in photography. She pointed out that the word ‘curate’ originally came from a Latin word meaning ‘to care’ – before sharing powerful insights around what she termed ‘the gatekeeper mentality’; the responsibility when it comes to representation, collaboration, and harnessing diverse voices. She also spoke of the importance of museums as a place for memories, and the need to be mindful of gaps, of erasures of marginalised communities and the need to find spaces for these hidden but important stories.

?Last but certainly not least, Khanyisile Mbongwa, Curator of the 12th Liverpool Biennial, shared her thoughts and experiences on generational curses and how to break them. Back in high school, she pondered the power and the nature of dreams, seeking to define who she truly was without defining herself by generational trauma. Khanyisile spoke powerfully about the need for tenderness, the journey of healing and living with hope and joy. “Care is not an easy thing to get right”, she said. “We must accept that sometimes we fail. But failing is progress.”

We left the evening with thoughts around having the courage to take risks, valuing our support systems, being our authentic selves, and viewing inclusion and innovation as a must-have and not a nice to have - especially in these challenging times. Thanks again to all who made such an inspirational evening possible.

#TEDxGreekStWomen #CreateChange