IWD23 meets MWC23 – Embracing equity for International Women’s Day  

Can you think of a better way to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) then by meeting both old friends and new ones at the annual epicenter of telecommunications – Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona?

Since we launched our Diversity @ Accedian initiative in 2020, we’ve accomplished much. Not enough yet, but we’re on our way. 

We’ve introduced required diversity training and educational sessions (with experts from diverse groups and organizations like the National LGBT Bar Association and Toby Mildon, one of the UK’s leading diversity and inclusion architects). We’ve supported and taken part in awareness-raising runs, webinars, volunteering activities, and donations to notable D&I organizations such as Equitas, the International Centre for Humans Rights Education. 

Perhaps most noteworthy, driven by our CEO, Dion Joannou (who was also a passionate driver behind the creation of our Diversity @ Accedian initiative), we became founding members of the TM Forum Diversity & Inclusion Council together with our industry peers – Colt, Accenture, BT, Verizon, and Salesforce, to name a few. 

As part of this group, we launched the world’s first comprehensive score aimed at improving company and industry-wide diversity and inclusion. The Inclusion and Diversity Score (IDS) is a multi-dimensional benchmarking tool co-created by TM Forum members to help digital service businesses win the ‘war on talent’ through greater diversity and inclusion. 

Celebrating IWD23 with plenty of inspiration from the Global Telecom Women’s Network 

As a marketing leader, one of my greatest sources of inspiration and creativity is traveling, meeting new faces and old friends, and being exposed to new ideas and technology at industry events. Last week at MWC, I attended the Global Telecom Women’s Network’s annual cocktail event at Casa Llotja de Mar’s Golden Hall, and let me tell you, my cup was absolutely filled to the brim with an influx of inspiration that I have been missing from the lack of travel and in-person connections in the last few years. 

The first wave of inspiration came from the support of my outstanding colleagues who attended the event with me – Sergio Bea and Michael Rezek, and the invitation from our CEO, Dion Joannou, who went above and beyond in ensuring I was connected in advance to his network attending the event. There is a lot of talk of allyship and supporting diversity out there, but the Accedian leadership team continues to walk the walk and exceed my expectations in their team support. 

The second wave of inspiration blew me, along with everyone else in attendance, away. As part of the event, the GTWN Founder and President Emeritus, Candace Johnson, received a Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by another industry absolute heavyweight, Former European Commission Vice President, Viviane Reding. 

For those of you who would like to renew your feeling that we are really changing the world in telecommunications, and that little old you can truly accomplish amazing things, read the below. I promise you that I could go into much more detail, but after just a few of these bullets, you will understand my awe.

Candace Johnson

• Among other degrees, Ms. Johnson achieved a Master in Music from Stanford.
• And among other current roles, she is Chair of the Advisory Board and Partner of Seraphim Space Fund, Vice Chair of NorthStar Earth and Space, and a Director of SES-imagotag, the world’s leading IOT/Electronic Shelf Labeling group. 
• She is also a member of the Executive Board of the ICC, the International Chamber of Commerce, and is Vice President of Institut EuropIA, the European Institute of Artificial Intelligence.
• Finally, she is Founder/Co-Founder of SES, Loral-Teleport Europe, Europe Online, Oceania Women’s Network Satellite, and a founding investor in the Kacific Satellite System.

Viviane Reding

• Viviane Reding served as the leader of Luxembourg’s EPP delegation in the European Parliament from 1989 to 1999.
• While serving in the European Commission, Ms. Reding’s legislation to cap roaming charges was approved (2007).
• She also pushed for strengthening the EU’s commitment to equality between women and men and consequently adopted a Women’s Charter, introducing measures to improve the representation of women in boardrooms of publicly-listed companies. In September 2012 it became known that she was working on a proposal for introducing the 40% rule, pushing for the representation of women in supervisory boards or non-executive board members of public listed companies in Europe. In 2022, this ‘landmark’ 40% quota was passed. Cue audience applause. 
• She has also pushed measures to improve the rights of people with disabilities across Europe by eradicating discrimination on the grounds of disability and eliminating the barriers faced by Europeans with disabilities whenever accessing goods and services.
• Ms. Reding achieved much more in her outstanding political career. Read about it here.

I hope you were sitting down for that. Ex-biologists like me will probably be just as inspired by these absolutely exceptional things these ladies have achieved in telecommunications, and not necessarily with an engineering degree. It renewed my excitement about our industry and the impact I want to make here, both with my own career and supporting the careers of other women in tech. 

Embrace equity, participate in our #IWD23 eight-word story contest!  

Inspired by International Women’s Day, our own Diversity @ Accedian motto (Diverse is our heritage, more inclusive our future), and one of our favorite parts of Wired, the sci-fi six-word stories, we are launching our International Women’s Day 2023 eight-word story contest!    

The contest: write an eight-word story on the International Women’s Day theme of Embracing Equity. In the spirit of diversity – any language, any syntax, any meter will be accepted!   

How to take part: send us an email with your eight-word story to [email protected] or tag us on LinkedIn/Twitter (@Accedian) with the hashtag #diversityeightwords by March 31st, 2023 at 17:00 Eastern.   

What’s in it for you? The winner will be announced on social media on Monday, April 3rd and a $500 donation to one of our favorite diversity and inclusion organizations, Equitas, will be made in their name. Equitas advances equality, social justice, and respect for human dignity through transformative human rights education programs in Canada and around the world.  

We can all play a part! Each one of us can actively support and embrace equity within our own sphere of influence. Start influencing your social sphere with our IWD23 eight-world story contest. Here’s one eight-word story to get your creativity flowing! 

“Embracing equity could start with just eight words.”

If you are interested in learning more about our Diversity @ Accedian initiative, email us at diversity(at)accedian.com, or contact me on LinkedIn!