When Women Thrive, We All Thrive
“Women hold up half the sky”
An old Chinese proverb that hits close to heart may have various meanings. Though, we like to believe it emphasizes on how men and women have equal roles in life. This should also include equal rights, opportunities and contributions. However, we all know how gender has its parity in many things. Gender parity tells us beyond the sex ratio, it dips into the whole difference in terms of contribution both to the public and private sector. UN Women recently showed important data where the number of women in power has been increasing, yet still leaves wide regional gaps in reality. Sadly, Indonesia was named as a country with the highest gender inequality index in ASEAN by 2021. This means we have not done enough efforts to reach the equity and to eventually arrive at the country’s sustainable development goals. What has gone wrong? What needs to be done?
#MendobrakBias: Indonesian women to break the stigma
Putu Mia Krisna Pratiwi, the current Main Director of Griya Luhu has always been interested in engineering. At such a young age, she knew she wanted to study in the field despite the masculine ambience and the appearance of it. Going through day after day during college was a mental game, she needed big guts and an open mind but also a full awareness of keeping her feet on the ground. Especially when she is a Balinese woman who was often being told not to live far from home. However, she always believed that she needed the experience to earn insights before knowing what she wanted to do for life.
Nadea Nabilla Putri, who is now leading Azura Indonesia, was just as persistent. As a woman who spent most of her days by the ocean, she was always told not to. Too masculine, they said. Too dangerous for women, others whispered. She chose to neglect it because as she grew up, she was taught to do whatever she likes regardless of the gender. “Women are naturally designed with great qualities, too”, she added. To put it simply, everyone should have equal opportunities to become a leader.
Many of us have at least experienced something similar in life. Being told to be less than what we actually are, being silenced, or being underestimated just because we are women. All these gender-based biases make us work twice harder to get where we want. Surely it takes individual courage to break the walls, but more importantly it also needs a supporting ecosystem. To help forge the great ecosystem for a gender equal world, we should start as little as celebrating women’s achievements and increasing their visibility. With these actions, we hope to give support for women who thrive to keep making changes in their own fields while inspiring other women who will hear their stories.
Indonesian women who thrive
While women’s road to success may be rocky due to stigma and other boundaries, Indonesian women’s roles are surely not to be underestimated. Especially when more than 60% of the existing micro, small, and medium enterprises in Indonesia are led by women. The number shows how women hold powerful roles in the national economy. Despite the big percentage, sadly it might be nearly impossible to find all the names unless we keep elevating their visibility. With this mission, just recently we gathered as many female leaders in Bali to celebrate the International Women’s Day together. We let them roar their milestones while other women cheered for them.
Now you may or may not have heard of Tetsuya, the woman behind a growing startup called Panak.id. Back in 2019, she built a platform that helps local stock farmers meet their investors and markets while at the same time she and the team go to the fields to help them improve in quality production. As of today, she has led the socio-enterprise into giving benefits to at least 78 stock farmers in Bali. These numbers are proof that women are amazing both in getting creative with technology innovation and working in the field.
As another proof, let Mia’s success with Griya Luhu become one to celebrate. Due to her great leadership and management of the waste bank system to reduce plastic waste in Bali, Mia was appointed as one of BBC’s 100 Women in 2021. Her milestone has not only lifted her up, but also other women who work with her. Everyday she works closely with Balinese women in 25 different villages to collect the waste and to spread awareness of how bad life has turned due to the irresponsible plastic usage.
“Women are agents of change only by a sole reason of how we naturally love to talk. With this natural talent alone, we can spread awareness. The key is to have the right messages to spread.”
Mia Krisna Pratiwi, the Main Director of Griya Luhu
*Find out more about women who thrive here.
What happens when women lead
Essentially, women’s leadership is not something to be overlooked. In Azura Indonesia, Nadea leads the male-majority team members to make impacts for male-majority beneficiaries. Her role is influential because she has traits that other team members may not such as being a well calculated person, more approachable, and more empathetic. Her being a woman with those traits integrated well with her great minds make a great example of how women can be a great leader when given a chance. And when becoming a leader, we are more easily exposed to social factors where their progress isn’t only about explicit numbers, but also positive impacts that are more to be felt than seen. This is why we see a lot of women-led enterprises that thrive economically, socially, and even ecologically. Women are simply long thinkers that we tend to think further and bigger than just about ourselves in the present.
In Griya Luhu, work becomes more effective because the female team members are great communicators for the ladies in local communities who become the real game changers. They listen to the women whose roles were underestimated before, they give important roles for them so they become more empowered. Things are just the same in Panak.id because Tetsuya has seen how the housewives hold important jobs for the stock farmers even when they are put behind the scenes.
But these names are not the only ones. This world has seen many great female leaders who help create safe space, empower others, close gender pay gaps, and many more to come. However, it is still an ongoing work. For that we need more women who are brave to break the bias, to lead, and to make real changes. And when we are given opportunities, we should collaborate and create opportunities for other women. This is why we, Pratisara Bumi Foundation, have been actively pushing from the ground-up so more women in the grassroots have chances to lead and make a difference. We eliminate boundaries, create opportunities, and become a safe space for them.
*Support our current programs for women and youth in rural areas here.
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Writer: Esa Savitaresta Arnaya | Communication Associate