Our campaign theme this year is #BreakTheBias: taking affirmative action to interrupt biases which may prevent us realising our inclusion goals.
As a firm, we are constantly working to #BreakTheBias by Changing the Rules, Culture and Lived Experience.
Our Tech Group celebrated International Women's Day recently by welcoming the incredible Anusha Nirmalanathan for a fireside chat in partnership with TLC Lions. As an Asian women with an invisible disability in the tech world, Anusha shared her unique journey and the challenges she has faced during her impressive career working in data and product management at start-ups and global tech companies.
Partner Emma Folds welcomes Dr Arin Reeves, President and Managing Director at Nextions, to explore some of the key ways in which we've been working together to dismantle some of the barriers that may prevent our firm – and indeed other organisations – from being as inclusive as we would like to be.
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"Now that employees are increasingly recognised as powerful stakeholders, and DE&I metrics and KPIs are fundamental to ESG credentials, the moral and economic drive to #BreakTheBias has never been higher." Amy Bird, co-chair of the UK chapter of Clifford Chance's Gender Parity Network Accelerate>>> marks International Women's Day 2022.
Find out more about Being an ambassador for change - the Clifford Chance wayHot on the heels of International Women's Day, Marianne Toghill talks to Samantha Perahia MBE of the British Film Commission explore what the industry is doing to promote inclusion and gender representation.
Reverse mentoring was launched in our Paris office in 2020 to encourage and foster an ever more inclusive working environment. For the last two years, the team has been able to discover the experience of a more junior colleague (or one with a different background) within the office.
Find out more about Reverse Mentoring: 2022 update from the Paris office
At our virtual Advancing Women in the Americas event, Charles Adams, Renee Latour and Haylin Low shared their experiences and personal pledges on how they plan to #BreakTheBias that results in gender inequality and inequity. Colleagues broke into groups to discuss and share their own pledges for how they plan to #BreakTheBias this year.
Colleagues in the Amsterdam office wore purple and gathered in the Atrium for our daily 4 o'clock gathering and networking, which also turned purple for the occasion!
Our Australia offices held internal networking lunches in Sydney and Perth, and hosted some fantastic 'Bias Interrupted' virtual Inclusion training.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we sat down with Charles Adams, Jeroen Ouwehand, Dorothée Vermeiren and Katharine Missenden to discuss this year’s theme #BreakTheBias. We explored what it means to #BreakTheBias, and what actions Clifford Chance is taking both locally and globally to interrupt biases and build new habits to realise our shared commitment to inclusion.
Our China offices organised an office event with Organic and Beyond, a Beijing-based organic food company, to advocate for organic and sustainable gender equality and female leadership.
Our colleagues in Delhi gathered together for high tea to discuss this year's #BreakTheBias theme.
Our Dubai office hosted a series of fireside Q&A sessions with renowned speakers, including Lindsay Trivers of The Tasting Class.
The fireside chat addressed how we can collectively dismantle the barriers to deliver gender parity. As a leading entrepreneur in the food and beverage industry in the Middle East, Lindsay led a tasting experience to feature inspirational stories of overcoming challenges to ascend to the top of her field in the region.
Building on the IWD theme #BreakTheBias, our gender parity network Accelerate>>> organised a workshop "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion – how to be an ambassador".
Three insights from the workshop:
We hosted an informative session with NGO Teen's Key. Teen's Key provides holistic support to vulnerable young women and mothers under 25 years old in Hong Kong, including those who work in the sex industry.
This webinar covered Teen's Key's mission, including how they provide support to young women in the sex industry, and address issues and biases they often encounter.
We are proud to have hosted "Women in Leadership", the second webinar of our "Women in Business" series.
With more than 700 people in the audience, the panelists had an inspiring discussion about their personal and professional experiences as women in leadership roles and how we can #BreakTheBias for next generation women leaders.
Watch the event
On the occasion of International Women's Day, an internal networking event took place in our Madrid office, where we were joined by female partners from London, Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam - Emma Folds, Charlotte Madden, Melissa Fogarty, Dessislava Savova, Delphine Siino Courtin, Ilse van Gasteren and Dorothée Vermeiren - who shared their experiences on their journey to the partnership, the challenges they faced, and what they enjoy the most about being part of the Clifford Chance global partnership.
Challenging prejudices and social barriers through a journey through time, retracing the steps of the great women of our history. A guided tour through the hidden streets in the city centre, to discover the women who helped make it great. This is the tribute that our team in Milan wanted to pay to International Women's Day.
Associates Amy Bird and Ciara Beades were welcomed to the Newcastle office to promote the Accelerate>>> network in a lunch and learn session. Following this, our Newcastle colleagues attended the Baltic Art Gallery for a curated tour of an art exhibition.
Our panel of pre-eminent industry professionals included Emma Hayes OBE (Chelsea Ladies FC manager), Seema Jaswal (acclaimed sports journalist and commentator), Professor Dr. Funke Abimbola MBE (a global DE&I leader), and Ben Purkiss (former chair of the Professional Footballers' Association and Clifford Chance associate). Teamed up by Accelerate>>> (the firm's gender parity network) they kicked about how bias is being broken in the world of football and how goals play out for law and business.
We had the pleasure to have on stage four female partners - Stefanie Ferring, Saskia Myners, Maren Stadler-Tjan and Katia Gauzès - from the Luxembourg office interviewed by Senior Partner, Christian Kremer. They shared their views on how they break the bias in their day-to-day life and celebrate difference in top management roles addressing also the importance of work-life balance and the strategies that work well to promote inclusion in the workplace.
This internal hybrid event was followed by over 120 lawyers and business professionals from the firm!
Counsels Chloé Desreumaux, Corinne Duvnjak and Sophie Levy, who are members of our gender parity network Accelerate>>>, explain what the network is about, why the campaign is important in fighting prejudices, and also share some advice to women taking their first steps in the world of work.
Partner Lena Ng moderated an inspiring keynote event hosted by Accelerate>>>Singapore with special guest speaker Dalia Feldheim in celebration of International Women's Day.
Dalia shared personal experiences of #BreakingTheBias throughout her career, and explained what it means to "Lead Like a Girl" - by leading from the Heart: with Purpose, Perspective, Power, People and Positivity.
Our Tokyo offices will be running an initiative in schools later in the year but dressed in purple to mark International Women's Day itself.
People from across the global Clifford Chance network share their highlight of 2021's #ChooseToChallenge campaign.
Actions matter and every one of us is the most effective ambassador for change in our own space. Reflecting on the 2020 theme of #ChooseToChallenge gives us a great opportunity to look back on our own 'change-maker' video series, which celebrates those who speak up and choose to be proactive about taking action in our firm as we continue to campaign for gender equality.
PlaylistThe latest points of view from our people on our responsible business activities
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