“Women are leaders everywhere you look—from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women, and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes.” –Nancy Pelosi
Globally, March is women’s month. It is a time to reflect on and celebrate women’s achievements over the years. But it is also a call to action for everyone to get involved and create an environment of equality and respect for all women. At Boldr, this year we didn’t just celebrate Women’s Day. Instead, during the entire month, we had different fun activities that celebrated women workshops that helped us grow and learn more about feminism, transgender women, the women who made history, and more. Here’s all that happened in the last 31 days.
Education As The Pathway Towards Gender Equality
“Education is a fundamental tool in the fight for gender equality”
Education is the greatest equalizer. This is true when it comes to race, background, and gender. And as a company composed of lifelong learners (not to say downright geeks), we couldn’t agree more. With this in mind, this year’s women’s month we decided to invite speakers, all experts in their respective fields, to teach us about feminism, transwomen, infant and young child feeding, the adult women changing bodies, and more.
What Is Feminism Anyway?
While feminism is not a new topic, it’s still confusing for many. Misconceptions are common, giving the progressive and humane movement a bad reputation.
Ram Bernal is a part-time graduate student specializing in gender and development theories. She’s also the founder of Kabataan LEAD: a community-based youth organization in Marikina that aims to empower and hone the knowledge and talents of young people from marginalized communities through a series of Gender Sensitivity Training and Leadership Seminars.
We invited Ram to give a conference about what is feminism, where we also explored the definitions of the most important concepts in feminism like gender, gender ideology, unequal gender relations, and patriarchy. She also talked in her webinar about violence against women, sexism, and how this affects all women on a daily basis.
We ended the conference with an enlightening round of questions and answers, sharing our points of view, resolving our doubts, and learning from each other.
Transgender Women Are Women
“I think transwomen, and trans people in general, show everyone that you can define what it means to be a man or woman on your own terms. A lot of what feminism is about is moving outside of roles and moving outside of expectations of who and what you’re supposed to be to live a more authentic life.”
Our speaker for the Transgender Women Are Women webinar was Stef Aranas, a member of premier LGBTQ+ support group and advocacy organization at the University of the Philippines Babaylan. This is what she taught us:
- What is SOGIE?: defining Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression.
- The trans femme struggle: tackling issues and struggles that trans women face every day.
- Trans women in culture: exploring the lives of trans women in both historical and contemporary contexts.
- And the most important part: she taught us how to be good allies to the transgender community!
About half a decade ago, only one-quarter of people in the United States supported trans rights. This support increased to 62% by 2019. But despite the progress, the trans community still faces considerable stigma. This is why we consider it important for our Boldranians to have spaces where they can learn more about this topic and become allies to the transgender community.
Infant And Young Child Feeding
We have a lot of team members who are parents, aunts, or uncles, so we were very excited about this workshop. Nadine Gadia, the founder of Modern Nanays of Mindanao, was our speaker for the “Infant and young child feeding” workshop. At this conference, we learned more about the proper care of babies and children, especially, the benefits of breastfeeding.
The Adult Woman’s Changing Body
Change and aging are both normal. What matters is that you’re aware of the changes and have all the necessary tools and information to prepare. This is what Dr. Ellaine Joseph, Senior Director of International Care Ministries, taught us on the webinar: how to take care of our bodies, improve our energy, memory, and youthfulness.
Women Erased From History
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Have you ever heard about the Matilda Effect? The Matilda effect is when women’s contributions to numerous fields are unacknowledged or wrongly attributed to males. This phenomenon was first described by suffragist and abolitionist Matilda Joslyn Gage in her essay, “Woman as Inventor”. Historically, women have been set aside. Among the female researchers forgotten by our historic memory, we find examples of great women such as: Maria Ylagan Orosa, Maria Luisa Dehesa Gómez, and Nettie Stevens.
During March, we used our internal platforms to shine a spotlight on the stories of these amazing women, here you can read what we shared:
Boldranians Share Their Talent
We are lucky to be surrounded by amazing and talented women from whom we have a lot to learn from. This is why we asked them to share their talents with us, and the results were fantastic!
From cooking and dancing to tarot readings and somatic movement, our female boldranians taught us how to do what they do best. We had a lot of fun and the most important part: for every person who joined the event, we donated 10 dollars to a non-profit organization in South Africa.
Here are some pictures of the results!
Daytime to Nighttime Make-Up with Fer Espinosa:
Frozen Lemon Pie with Zamira Ruiz:
Makin Mac n Cheese with Tammy Nel:
Somatic Movement and Contemporary Dance with Natalia Shrimpton:
Tarot Reading with Zellie Bardullas:
Who Are The Women You Look Up To?
A role model is not just a celebrity or someone famous, it is ANYONE who inspires you. Someone who makes a difference, whether it is with little details or huge gestures. This year we asked our Boldranians who are the women they admire. Here are their answers.
“My son’s mother. Despite her busy schedule, she always ensures that our toddler is well-cared for, from school to food to just about everything. I always look up to her and I’m so proud of her.”
— Jeff Uyvico, Data Services Associate
“My mom. She raised us, worked, and completed her graduate degree all at the same time. She is the epitome of excellence, integrity, and grace. She inspires me every day.”
— Camille Silvosa, Customer Support Specialist.
“My mom, because she is a magical person. Besides what has happened to her she’s always smiling and never giving up. I’m so proud of her and I’m always gonna be thankful for the way she managed to raise her kids and keep a full-time job at the same time. I love you mom.”
— Emilio Montiel Leo, Sales Development Representative
“I have two Wonder Women in my life. My mom. Having 5 kids was never an easy task for a working mom. Especially with us boys. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to take care of the family and balance her career, be there in every basketball game from start till the end of the season, staying late to help us with our assignments, doing the grocery, and never letting the supplies run dry, setting aside time to give back to the community as a volunteer nurse, never missing Church pre-Covid, and knowing when to be tough to discipline us. Her warm hugs are what make getting sick so tolerable. And my wife of course. Putting up with me as a partner in life and being my living calendar reminder is such a great gift.”
— Joseph Bryan Acsayan, Team Captain
“My grandmother, she practically raised all of her grandchildren up to a certain point and I always have fond memories of her taking me to the Carnival in Merida.” \
— Jorge Melendez, Talent Acquisition Associate
“My grandmother, she basically raised my sisters, cousins, and me since my parents and uncles were always away working. Also, I want to mention one of my favorite characters ever, Ellen Ripley.”
— Fabrizio Alcocer Heredia, Talent Acquisition Supervisor
“My momma, because she overcame adversity and gave her best to get ahead both. So, I love her and she’s the best I ever had, she’s my role model. I’m so proud of her and I can’t ever repay her for everything she did for me.”
— Pedro Amaury Cuevas Avila, Sales Development Representative
“My mom! She’s a good person, patient, lovely, she has a genuine interest in other people and always tries to help others. She’s an example of a person for me”.
— Giomar Torres, Talent Acquisition Associate
“My mother. She has been a single mom since she gave birth to me at the age of 15 and then a single mom to my baby brother. She has been my rock and has also been through so much in life. She inspires me every day. And then to all the beautiful and strong women, I get to work with at Boldr. These are the women that inspire me daily to push”.
— Liam Jacobs, Employer Branding & TA Marketing Specialist
“My grandmother, she raised 9 kids, she is the smartest person I know, she can have a conversation about anything: WWII, Sports (analyses differences between CR7 and Messi), Politics, Plants, Construction, Medicine, History, anything! she’s read thousands and thousands of books, she is the strongest woman I’ve ever known, even though she can’t move most of her body now I have never heard her complaining about anything because according to her “life is too beautiful and short to spend it complaining about something”
— Jose Antonio Vizcaino Chavez, Client Success Manager
“My mother who has always been relentless, and the example of an independent, strong woman.”
— Luis Fernando Pérez, Service Delivery Manager
“My sister, hands down… she is strong, she taught me what unconditional love looks like and knows how to have fun.”
— Mari Parker, Chief People Officer
“Zamira Ruiz (Boldr) always recruiting the most difficult and challenging positions from Boldr and Zazil Varguez (Boldr) always patient, willing to answer all the questions that we may have even if she is always busy, she always helps.”
— Geraldine Rodriguez Osorio, Talent Acquisition Specialist
“My mother, who gave birth to me. And definitely, my wife, who has been my motor, my muse, my inspiration, and my reason to keep going in the face of adversity.
And also my aunt from NZ (my Dad’s youngest sister) she’s a 2 time breast cancer survivor! She’s taught me the true meaning of resiliency and also to be happy and love each day to the fullest. May them be forever blessed, together with all the great women that do outstanding things every day that may not go recognized. Here’s to y’all! You are loved and recognized. May your lives be forever blessed.”
— Andrew Keith Nelson Rubio, Team Captain
“My mom, my rock, my everything. She is a warrior who raised 3 kids by herself and never stopped working so hard to give us everything she could plus a lot of love. The person that tells me that I can do anything if I set my mind and work hard and is always there for me no matter what.”
— Karime Castellanos, Senior Team Captain
“My Grandmother and my mom, they are the example of what a warrior woman is that is able to overcome any obstacle, no matter what. My grandma raised 6 children by herself and made sure they always got what they needed. She took care of us grandsons and granddaughters while my mom was working to ensure me and my sister also got all we needed. They are my rock and the foundations of the man I am today, I am eternally grateful for everything they both did to make me who I am today.”
— Luis Camejo, Service Delivery Manager
“My grandmother that I didn’t have the pleasure to meet but I’m named Sara because of her. She was a strong and loving woman who raised her 5 children by herself. And my mom, she is a synonym of strength, consistency, creativity, and love!”
— Sara Rentería Herrera, Client Success Manager
“My mom and my aunt Ana taught me to be a strong woman. Those two will never back down and always stand up for what they believe in. I can’t imagine my life without them.”
— Kaitlin Foster, Global TA Director
“To say it is my mom would be an understatement, a cliché, and Women’s Day wouldn’t be enough to share her greatness. So, I’ll switch to a fictional character instead. For years I have admired strong, independent, unapologizing women in films and television but no one else comes close to the one and only Polly Gray (played by Helen McCrory, may she rest in peace). She is every woman’s spectrum! She is harsh but compassionate. Impatient but loving. She’s the one to tell you you fucked up but she’s also the one to hold the family together when everything is fallin’ apart. She is chaos and peace. And I am blessed to know countless of Polly Gray’s in this lifetime. To my Polly Gray’s at work and the rest of the women of TA, I celebrate you and your boldness! Cheers!”
— Jennifer Dioquino, Talent Acquisition Specialist
Are You Making A Difference For Women?
If we truly believe in equal opportunity for all women, we must be part of the change. Our society has a long history of discrimination against women, which makes all of us susceptible to bias (whether we realize it or not). We all need to join this cause, support women everywhere and become an ally. And the best way to do so is by learning to talk less and listen more.
Take time to reflect on your actions not only on women’s month, how you can help women in their cause, and how you could expand your knowledge about their fight. It is our duty as a society to create a better place for them. While Women’s Month celebrates how far women’s rights and gender equality have come, it’s still critical to acknowledge and take action on issues that need to be addressed. So we would like to ask you: how are you making a difference for women?
