The gender pay gap remains at 15%; only 18% of CEOs are women, and they represent 59% of long-term unemployed. Given the still persistent inequality, measures are needed, which can be summarized in one: "Activate tools so that women can be what they want to be."
This is how the mission of the new Lidera hub can be condensed, and this is how the CEO of Roka Furadada, Judith Camargo, summarized it at the inauguration of the new hub, with more than a hundred attendees —mostly, as it could not be otherwise, women—. Lidera has opened a new space in the same location —the second floor of the emblematic MediaTic in 22@—, with more facilities and services, and raising the bar: it has become a new hub of economic activity in the city.
And what does this mean? It implies a leap in scale for the Lidera program, which joins the strategy of economic activity hubs promoted by the City Council, through Barcelona Activa, focused on boosting strategic economic areas for the city. In this case, it does so as an economic activity hub specialized in the growth of professional, entrepreneurial, and executive women. And being an economic activity hub does not only translate into a space like Lidera's, but also into resources: the City Council will invest 1.5 million euros each year in the new facility to promote the role of women in the city's economic fabric.
"Any woman who has an economic activity project must know that this is her space; her space to grow and to dare," proclaimed Deputy Mayor Raquel Gil, councilor precisely for Economic Promotion and, also, for Feminisms and Equality. With this objective, Lidera offers coworking spaces, training and meeting rooms, a studio for recording podcasts and video, and a terrace overlooking the city where professional and entrepreneurial women want to make an impact. Thus, from MediaTic, the space stands as a strategic asset of the city, at the service of female talent.
Genderless opportunities
"Talent has no gender, but opportunities, too often, do," highlighted the Director of Business and Entrepreneurship at Barcelona Activa, Itziar Blasco, making his own a statement that soundedat 4YFN. With the new Lidera hub, the aim is to break this logic, and ensure that these opportunities do not overlook female talent. "We are here to create the spaces and activate all networks to generate these opportunities to boost our talent," offering tools from three perspectives: training, entrepreneurship, and the ecosystem.All these tools are focused on this same objective of generating opportunities for female talent, in a labor market that is far from egalitarian. This is confirmed by the study Women in the Labor Market, by the City Council and Barcelona Activa, which focuses on inequality in fields such as long-term unemployment and the disparate presence of women in certain sectors, ranging from 83% in household activities to 18% in construction.
In these masculinized environments, there are already women breaking molds. The case of Angela Nemesio, Industrial Operations Manager at Prezero, is just one example. "In an industrial environment where there is little female presence, the simple fact of being there is already being a role model," she defended. "It is demonstrating and making visible that, as a woman, you can manage teams of people —mostly men— in industrial plants."
Progress must be made in the presence of women in masculinized sectors, and also on boards of directors and at the head of companies. How to do it? By giving visibility to those who are there, and moving forward to have more: "It is important to have quotas, because in this way more women will arrive, and more paths will open," added the CEO of Roka Furadada, in a conversation moderated by the director of The New Barcelona Post, Elena Busquets.
"Quotas are not the ultimate goal, but they are an intermediate solution until we get there," contributed Dayana Peraza, regional vice president of Sales at Salesforce. "People tend to look for their equals"; men tend to look for men, whether on the board of directors or also when investing, generating biases that lead to figures as significant as the tiny 2% of venture capital that goes to women-led companies.
Between the sticky floor and the glass ceiling
These are figures that Lidera tries to change since it started in 2018 as a pioneering program to support female professionals. "We want this force to multiply, with spaces of complicity to build together and to detect needs." With this objective, Lidera now gains a physical space "in the heart of the city's economic activity." This new meeting point represents "a leap in scale with space and content," in the face of barriers that continue to exist, between "a sticky floor and the glass ceiling," according to Gil, also president of Barcelona Activa. With this eight-year trajectory, Lidera has already supported 8,000 women. "We come from a solid journey, and now we double down on the bet," Blasco remarked.In this leap forward, Lidera joins the map of economic activity hubs in the city, where the BarcelonaXRLab, for creative industries; the Barcelona Circular (BAC), for industry 4.0 and circular economy, and the digital talent hub have already emerged. The map will be completed with the urban planning and architecture hubs, and the care hub.
"As of today, we present ourselves to the women of the city to say that this is the space where Barcelona's economic promotion meets this moment in which women empower themselves and strengthen themselves to occupy this space," Gil remarked. Before more than a hundred attendees, she wanted to make it clear that Lidera "is not a space to talk about women's things, but a space for women to strengthen themselves to talk about economic activity." All with one goal: "For the city's economy to grow taking into account the women of the city."
Add The New Barcelona Post as your preferred Google source for free
Stay informed with the latest news.
