Since our founding in 2006, even when we only published a quarterly magazine, we dedicated an entire edition—and month—to international women’s day and history month. Since then, and with the advent of our annual Global Women’s Forum in 2012, we have dedicated March 8 to women leaders in policy, diplomacy, business, and civil society who inspire us. This year’s forum was no different except that instead of celebrating past accomplishments we dedicated the day to the women of the future.
We asked our expert network: how do we help the future arrive well for women?
The answers—as diverse as they were—led to: teach them AI.
But AI—forever the buzzword—is not just about upskilling. “It’s a mindset, not a skillset,” said Tarja Stephens, the co-founder of Mia - Impact Mission Academy, which aims to upskill one million non-technical women in AI by 2030. Mia, along with the Center for International Private Enterprise partnered with us for this year’s forum. Our keynote speakers Louisa Tomar, Director of the Center for Digital Economy and Governance and Barbara Langley, Director of the Center for Women’s Economic Empowerment echoed the same but stressed that skills of the future alone are not enough in the new economy. Governance, regulation, and inclusive and ethical considerations are paramount to ensure the world in the next decade does not carry the same inequities of the current world.
A few years ago, I was addressing the honorees of the annual Women of Courage Awards. They asked me what I thought was the path to women getting into more political office. My answer: there is no such thing as political empowerment without economic empowerment. The two go hand-in-hand. The AI wave is here and is affecting all of us, especially our organizations and work. The future of work demands a new approach, particularly if we want that future to be equitable and inclusive. So that’s where we began our conversation this month and we hope to carry on to the future.
