The irony was too good to be true. After all that, the only woman presenting at last night’s RISE Fast Pitch won the pitch competition. Paula Soileau, founder of Affintus, had the best pitch of the bunch and the product with the most potential. This doesn’t mean that women are better. It just means they create companies that deserve equal attention and voice as men. And the fact that I’m still typing that sentence in 2011 continues to frustrate the hell out of me.
I thought it made sense to follow up on my post from last Thursday. It rubbed a few people the wrong way, but also did exactly what it set out to do: ensure that women were represented at last night’s event. Kudos to event emcee Robert Reeves for responding quickly and to Rice Alliance president Doug Bain for reaching out graciously and professionally. Doug and I are meeting for coffee next week and I genuinely look forward to it. And congrats to both Rice Alliance and RISE for putting on a great event last night, with some unique and interesting companies represented.
But it wasn’t enough. Not even close. The token women onstage last night (when you’re shoe-horned in two days before the fact, you’re token) stood out like sore thumbs. Heck, so did Bijoy Goswami, head of Bootstrap Austin. There were so many white men crowded onto that stage, I kept expecting a constitutional document to be signed.
It may surprise you to hear that one of the groups I blame for this is women themselves. When I spoke to Dana Roefer at RISE last Friday, she said something compelling: “When we first announced this event, we were inundated by men wanting to speak or be a judge.” Where were the women clamoring to be included? I’m not sure. But I do know that if we continue to depend on others to recognize our accomplishments, we’re not going to get very far. I should start getting an affiliate fee for the number of times I’ve referred to it but go watch Sheryl Sandberg’s talk from TEDWomen last year. Then watch it again. Watch it until her message is burned in your brain. If we don’t take a seat at the table, if we don’t step up and claim our own power and expertise, women as a whole will continue to be left out and forgotten.
Until that behavior becomes more of a fact, a large responsibility lies with another group: event producers, organizations, panelists, judges, and attendees. Yes, pretty much everyone else. It is no longer okay to have homogenous events, no matter how small or large. The number of accomplished, smart women and minorities in Austin and the rest of the country is overwhelming. They’re out there. If you ask some to participate and they’re unavailable, ask more. “We tried” is simply not an acceptable answer anymore. I’m confident every person reading this post knows at least 5 brilliant women. And if you don’t, call me. I have a virtually un-ending list.
Let’s all take equal responsibility to end our complacency around this issue. Imagine the new issues we could tackle together if we did.
