The Fix

André Thomas - What Pride Month Means

Global Pride Day is June 27th  a day chosen for people to be proud of who they love irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender. It is not just a celebration of love and acceptance, it is also a day to recognize how far we have come in celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community and how far we still have to go to ensure equality, equity and inclusion of its members. 
In the United States being homosexual was considered a mental illness in the 1960’s and at the same time in the United Kingdom it was considered a crime to be gay. 
But towards the end of the 60’s with events like the Stonewall riots, the fight against homophobia and the fight for equality prevailed. On todays episode we will celebrate these achievements and unpack what more we need to do.
Joining us is André Thomas, NYC Pride Co-Chair who will detail the theme for this years pride month and the challenges that lie ahead. 

Alisha Arora - Women, STEM and the Future

According to a report by the American census, despite making up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, women are still vastly underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce.
Women made gains from 8% of STEM workers in 1970 to 27% in 2019  but men still dominated the field. Men made up 52% of all U.S. workers but 73% of all STEM workers.
Given the technological advancements with things like AI, robotics, nanotechnology and the internet of things, STEM occupations are expected to increase over the next ten years however the gender gap in STEM persists. 
According to the non-profit consulting firm Catalyst, the gap in STEM begins in  education and is fuelled by gender stereotypes and expectations regarding “women’s work.”
In today’s episode I speak to Alisha Arora, a 14 year old young woman, who is on a mission to leverage exponential technology to solve some of the world’s largest problems. Alisha is an advocate and activator for mental health, and is currently researching at MIT’s AI lab to diagnose and prevent suicide with machine learning. Alisha represents the future of STEM and so today in this inspiring episode Alisha will share her work, ambitions, and experiences working in STEM. 

Tim Parkin - Sexism in Advertising

In January this year, the government in the United Kingdom, released a stay at home Covid 19 advert, that had illustrations of women undertaking a range of domestic responsibilities, like ironing, homeschooling and cleaning while the one male featured in the advert is sat on the couch. They were forced to withdraw the advert for it’s sexist depictions of women.
Sexism in advertising is an issue that has been around as long as the advertising industry has. Organisations like the Advertising Standards Authority in the United Kingdom are tasked with spotting and removing sexist adverts. But often by this point it is too late, the message is already out there and the damage is already done. To combat sexism in advertising we need to arm ourselves with the awareness to spot adverts that reinforce negative stereotypes, across all areas of difference.
On today’s episode Tim Parkin, global brand marketing expert, author and speaker, will be joining us on the show to discuss why in 2020 there is still such widespread sexism in advertising and what we can do to tackle this issue. 

Mallory Weggemann - How To Become Limitless

Mallory Weggemann has proved to be one of the most inspirational figures in the sport of swimming. It isn’t because of her achievements in the sport, which are incredibly impressive but rather it is because of how she has fought back after tragedy.
She is a Paralympic Gold-Medalist, 15-Time World Champion Swimmer, Author of the book Limitless and founder of social impact agency, TFA Group.
Mallory has broken 34 American Records, 15 World Records, becoming a twelve time World Champion and became a two Paralympic Medalist at the London 2012 Games. She is now  training for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Here, Mallory shares her inspiring journey in overcoming tragedy and how she became limitless. 

The Anti-Trans Violence Epidemic: Beverly Ross & David Johns

Transgender and gender-nonconforming people face risks that make them particularly vulnerable to homicide. Some experience bias explicitly because of their gender identity. For others, their identity makes them more likely to experience other risk factors, such as unemployment or homelessness, experts say. The risks are compounded for trans women of color, especially Black women, who face the additional burden of racism.
Last year was the deadliest one on record for transgender Americans, with Black transgender women accounting for two-thirds of total recorded deaths since 2013, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
While President Joe Biden signed an executive action affirming that LGBTQ Americans would be protected against discrimination in education, employment, housing, and other fundamental aspects of life in America, there is still along way to go to tackle violence against the trans community.

Blessing Adesiyan: Shecession - Why The Economic Crisis Is Affecting Women More Than Men

In the Great Recession, men lost twice as many jobs as women. But from February to May, in the united states 11.5 million women lost their jobs compared with 9 million men because of business closures intended to stop the spread of Covid-19. By the end of April, women's job losses had erased a decade of employment gains.
In the 2020 recession, job losses are much higher for women. At its peak, women's unemployment had risen by 2.9 percentage points more than men's unemployment.
We spoke with Blessing Adesiyan the Founder & CEO of Mother Honestly, a global community for working mothers about the impact of the current shecession. Blessing shares her research that her organization has undertaken to better understand the impact of the economic downturn on working mother and importantly what we can do to tackle this issue.

Madison Butler: Psychological Safety At Work

Is your team at work psychologically safe? A team feels psychologically safe when individuals believe they won't be exposed to interpersonal or social threats for engaging in learning behaviors such as asking for help, seeking feedback, admitting errors or lack of knowledge, trying something new, or voicing work-related dissenting views. Research has shown that the absence of such threats is strongly associated with team members bringing their whole self to work, expressing their creativity, talents, and skills, learning, and innovating.Given the importance of psychological safety in creating inclusion and belonging at work, I spoke with Madison Butler, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) practitioner and advocate for being human at work. In this episode, Madison and I discuss why psychological safety is critical to inclusion and diversity efforts and what each of us can do to create it.

Educating Kids About Climate Change: Sarah Goody

It is never too early to engage young women and men in the fight against climate change. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provided a wake-up call about the importance of teaching kids about sustainability. The report warns that greenhouse gas levels are at their highest in 800,000 years.The findings signal the need for drastic action globally at all levels of society including among governments, businesses, communities, and schools. This includes educating kids across all age groups and levels of schooling to prepare them to be able to live more sustainable lives.
In this episode, we're featuring 16-year old climate activist Sarah Goody who is launching a 4 Part “Climate Action Crash Course” Webinar Series for Youth and Young Adults. Sarah will share her work and reveal how we need to engage the next generation of women and men in the fight against climate change.