The week that was March 6

With two days to go before yet another International Women's Day - where are we on women's rights and gender equality?

• Female founders got more funding than ever in 2019 - for a total of $3.54 billion. But that amount is still less than what WeWork took in, and represents a tiny fraction of the whole funding pool.
• Pew Research Center reported that while the gender wage gap narrows, it shows no signs of going away. And the gap worsens significantly for minorities, particularly African-American women and Latina women. Can't say we are surprised, unfortunately.
• According to a new UNDP Report Tackling Social Norms, gender disparities are a persistent form of inequality in every country. "Despite progress in closing the equality gap, 91% of men and 86% of women hold at least one bias against women in relation to politics, economics, education, violence or reproductive rights."

If the current pace continues, 67 countries (including U.S.) – home to 2.1 billion girls and women – will not achieve any of the key gender equality targets by 2030.

This somber news is a reminder why it is imperative that we continue to push for change. It takes all genders to create a more equal and inclusive world for everyone.

• Consider anonymizing job applications to help reduce gender bias and promote diversity.
• Speak up when you see women being harassed online. This is a reality especially for women of color, and it is simply unacceptable.
• Experiences from one’s childhood creates unconscious gender bias. Be mindful of how domestic work is being shared between parents.
• Celebrate women - not just today, but every day. Proactively include them in your conversations. Seek them out for your speaker lineup.

We ran many episodes of our podcast featuring amazing women in our industry, including: Penny Crosman, Michele Tivey, Danielle Guzman, Liz Loewy, Alissa Knight, Joyeeta Das, Stephanie Foster, Tanya Andreasyan, Mary Wisniewski, Nina Mohanty, Ghela Boskovich, Nidhi Prabhu, Genevieve Leveille, Lizzie Chapman, Catherine Flax, Ramya Joseph, and Sarah Morgenstern. And many more to come.

Don't forget to tune in for our #OneVision podcast this week with Alex Johnson from FICO, where we talked about artificial intelligence, fintech, future of finance, and the importance of financial education. Listen in now via iTunes and Spotify.

Tune in and let us know what you think of the episode. And be sure to support us and subscribe to the One Vision podcast as well! As always, we appreciate your love and kind share :)

Join us on Twitter this Sunday, March 8, for another round of #MercerChats, in celebration of International Women's Day. An equal world is an enabled world - and every one of us can do our bit to bring about gender equality.

Together, we thrive.

Cheers!