EQUALL 2024: Empowering Women To Own Their Seats At The Table

I’m still in semi-shock that my WhatsApp and emails aren’t going off constantly and my brain isn’t confuddled in a myriad of minutia. Why? EQUALL 2024, the largest student-led equality conference in Europe, is over. But what a day! And what an experience and a privilege it has been to shape this day as Conference Co-Chair alongside 30+ incredible women, a day which will forever remain a defining moment in my MBA journey.

EQUALL is the creation of London Business School’s Women in Business (WiB) student club. Founded 24 years ago, this year’s sold-out version was the largest-ever in-person conference, with over 570 attendees. Students from eight universities from both sides of the English Channel convened at London Business School’s iconic Regent’s Park campus. Other attendees dialed in from areas far-and-wide, including the US, China, Ghana, Europe, India, and beyond. Time zones notwithstanding, everyone at EQUALL was united in their goal to support the conference’s main cause: advocating for EQUality for ALL.

This year’s theme, “A Seat at Every Table”, envisions a world where women are empowered, equipped, and able to have influence in every area of their lives. Through a day of keynotes, panels, workshops, company-sponsored lunches, and mentoring sessions, we were inspired by stories of leadership and perseverance from over 30 exceptional female leaders. Tangible skills were learned, such as personal investing, overcoming our imposter syndrome, and becoming Board-ready. We also networked with professionals from inspirational companies, learnt how to think about managing long-term health and careers, and much more – all in pursuit of owning our seats at every table.

MY REFLECTIONS FROM THE DAY

While EQUALL 2024 is over, the lessons we learned from the day linger on. Some of my key takeaways are summarized below…

Alignment with your values, and having fun while doing it, is crucial to both your personal career success and sustainability. EQUALL’s two keynote speakers – Dame Sharon White, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, and Francesca Carlesi, CEO of Revolut UK – both spoke about making choices in a manner that is “right for you”. A big reason for me to complete the MBA was, in fact, to embark on a journey of exploration to find what has been “right for me”. However, I have experienced that, even at LBS, sometimes making choices in a manner that is true to myself is easier said than done. It is always tempting to make the popular choice, or the safe-and-less satisfying one when thinking about career direction, extra-curriculars, trips or the plethora of other choices the MBA offers you. But I have also found that the choices I make that are most true to me, such as following my passion for equality end up being the ones where I can continually dedicate the most energy and are the most sustainable. And with a team as amazing and passionate as the EQUALL organizing team, who could not have fun while doing it?!

Highlighting your strong performance is the strongest antidote to bias. Early in my career, I believed that good work would speak for itself – that doing well would be enough to get noticed, to receive praise, to earn a promotion. In recent years, the cultural conversation has shifted to highlight the importance of self-advocacy to get what you deserve, whether that’s a broader set of responsibilities, a leadership position, or a raise. Hearing about how highlighting your strong performance can be an antidote to bias has unlocked an even deeper motivation in me. Not only should I do this for my own progression, but to also weaken any unconscious biases that might otherwise be cast on the women entering the workplace after me. Self-promotion can feel so awkward, and has never come naturally to me. But positioning it in a way that means I’m simultaneously fighting biases makes the awkward worthwhile.

Women are uniquely positioned to understand the needs of women – this is monetizable, and this is the narrative we need to push. Jesse Draper, Founder at Halogen Ventures, urged the audience to think about women as a “multi-trillion-dollar opportunity”. This point was hammered home by Jamie Kramer, Head of Alternatives Solutions at JPMorgan Asset Management. She gave the example of an all-male investment committee, which passed up on an opportunity to invest in Spanx. They didn’t understand why women would want shapewear to look good and feel confident, when they were pitched to by Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx. That was a big mistake, given that Spanx recently sold for $1.2billion.

Professor Dana Kanze’s research shows that when pitching for investment, male founders are typically asked promotion-focused questions, while female founders are asked prevention-focused questions. We also know that women today make up only 12% of investment professionals, and receive only 3% of venture capital funding. As a woman keen to go into investment management myself, I truly believe that these facts can only change when there are more women in the industry, sitting on all sides of the table. But equally, there also needs to be a realization that women control or influence 85% of global consumer spending – and are a mighty economic power.

The importance of storytelling, and the power it has to drive change. Rebekah Lloyd, a women’s health and careers advocate and founder of This Independent Life, shared how we have “normalized women being in pain”. The discomfort of menstruation, the physical changes a woman faces during childbirth, the pain of conditions such as endometriosis, and the hot flashes of menopause are experienced by most women. However, women have hesitated to share their stories, and Rebekah encourages women to use their voice to remove the stigmas associated with women’s health.

Leigh Walters-James, Managing Director at Accenture, is also a firm believer in the power of openness. He shared how his willingness to talk about issues such as menopause “unlocked a huge amount of value” for female colleagues, as it normalised their experiences. They realized that they weren’t alone in experiencing menopause, nor in wondering how to best navigate the workplace and their careers while going through it. They felt a deepened sense of trust and camaraderie with their colleagues. They implemented resources to provide education and support around menopause. And they developed a set of workplace adjustments so that employees could continue without worrying too much about having to pause. It can be scary to share our discomfort and pain. And yet, doing so and sharing our stories is often a powerful way to provide comfort and facilitate connection.

While talking about women’s equality is necessary, perhaps money is more so. The lack of financial support for women was a common thread throughout the day, whether it be paucity of funding for women’s health research or a need for more sustainability initiatives targeting women. The lack of investment in female-owned businesses was bemoaned by Ayesha Ofori, CEO and Founder of Propelle, who stated, “I don’t need advice, I need money!”

When thinking about the day’s programming, the EQUALL organizing team and I knew we wanted to provide as many practical takeaways as possible. To complement a day filled with inspiration and advice on how to move into leadership roles, we invited Ayesha to host a deep dive workshop on taking control of your personal finances. She covered not only budgeting, saving, and retirement planning, but also property, start-up, and sustainable investing. We were heartened to hear attendees leaving the workshop saying they were going to take action that night!

Regret is worse than the wrong decision. Francesca Carlesi guided us on asking “Will I regret not doing this” as the most important acid test on making choices. The question of “Will I regret this?” connects not only to what we believe the potential outcome will be, but also to our personal values and priorities. We learned from there that there are so many decisions in our collective futures that will not have clearly defined right or wrong answers. We’ll use our best judgement with the information that we have. And when we miss the mark, we’ll do whatever we can to rectify the situation. Her final bit of advice: ‘Go again with what matters the most to you and don’t let fear of making the wrong choice or failing paralyze you.’

We truly cannot do it alone. Almost every speaker emphasized that success requires community, whether it be our families, allies, support systems, social networks, or mentors. I thought about this so many times throughout the day, as I watched volunteers registering attendees in the early morning; the logistics team ensuring tech, AV, and props were set up properly for every session; the sponsorship team coordinating with our corporate partners; our allies in the audience who came to support our cause; and the speakers team moderating the panels they had prepared so diligently. Watching this, I was reminded that we must bring this collaborative energy into our classrooms, workplaces, board rooms, and homes to keep the gender equality imperative top of mind.

PROGRESS HAS HAPPENED – BUT NOT NEARLY FAST ENOUGH

Dame Sharon White noted that when she started working in the British civil service in 1989, there were only three female economists in a building of 1,000 people. One of her earliest sponsors told her that “You are allowed one eccentricity, and if you’re a woman that’s basically it”.  Twenty-five years later, through the concerted data collection and dissemination efforts of Dame Sharon and her female colleagues, there is gender parity in one of the most male-dominated bastions of the civil service.

Yet, as Catia Dal Poz, Founder of One Million Voices, reminded us, it would take 132 years to close the global gender gap. Non-Executive Director Lesley-Ann Nash’s reflection that “The world isn’t that different to what it used to be” also touched a nerve. This is why forums like EQUALL are more than just a conference – they are an opportunity to come together and drive the equality agenda forward.

LOOKING AHEAD

We ended EQUALL 2024 with our first-ever Female Business Showcase and reception. Here, over ten female entrepreneurs from diverse startups, such as cricket protein company Saved and sexual wellness brand Hanx, shared their products and their unique journeys with us. It was incredible to celebrate so many female-owned businesses coming together at EQUALL to close off such an eventful day!

EQUALL 2024 would not have been possible without our incredible sponsors: Uber, Accenture, AlixPartners, and The Relais Retreats. Josephine Francois-Poncet, Co-Head of Sponsorships, commented to me:

“Leading sponsorships for EQUALL has truly been a highlight of my MBA journey. We are so grateful to our amazing sponsors for supporting us. Without them, we couldn’t have made this event happen.”

Co-Head of Sponsorship Aarohi Shah added, “Thank you also to our unstoppable team for their relentless efforts in meeting and surpassing our fundraising goals.”

The sterling efforts of the entire organising team were also praised by WiB Co-Presidents Vale Martinez Escardó, Monica Cogo, and Samm Yu, who remarked on the strong commitment to excellence that is the hallmark of the conference.

As Samm Yu told me: “EQUALL is a fantastic example of what can be achieved through combined effort. The conference was six months in the making, and the positive feedback that we received after the event makes all the months of preparation worthwhile. The whole team pulled together to make EQUALL a huge success and we are profoundly thankful for everyone’s invaluable contribution. We are also grateful to all the speakers who helped us to address the important issue of gender equality, which remains an important issue still today.”

Conversations on the progression of gender equality remain as relevant now as when EQUALL first began. There have been several steps forward, but many steps back when it comes to women’s rights and equality globally. EQUALL remains a platform to have challenging, honest, vulnerable and uplifting conversations. A platform that we hope will continue to grow even bigger and even more successful with the support of students, faculty, allies, and supporters, and always remain a safe space.

Special thanks to Samm Yu, Co-President of the Women in Business Club, for encouraging me to take up the helm at EQUALL, for support and friendship through every step of my EQUALL journey, and last but not least, for providing inspiration (and editorial support!) for this article.

Azmeen Merchant is a second-year MBA student at London Business School and Speakers Lead for the EQUALL conference. Prior to the MBA, Azmeen worked in the financial services industry in Singapore for over eight years across equity research, balance sheet management and corporate strategy. Most recently, Azmeen was a Director at Standard Chartered, where she advised the Bank’s C-suite on Global Strategy, with particular focus on the Financial Institutions business. During the MBA, Azmeen has explored investment management with internships in private equity and impact investing, and is passionate about global development, women’s rights and financial inclusion. Azmeen is originally from Karachi, Pakistan and holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

 

Go to Next Page for Additional Photos from EQUALL 2024, Organized by the London Business School Women in Business (WiB).