🧠💡 Why Do I Support and Attend All ERGs? 💡🧠 It's a short answer - To be a better ally. Longer answer... 🌱 It's not the responsibility of marginalized communities to educate us; we owe it to ourselves to do the work, read, and learn. That said, if we're invited into a space where meaningful conversations are happening, we should take advantage of those opportunities to learn more about the community and ourselves. 📚 Opportunities to learn exist everywhere, especially when we immerse ourselves in spaces where these important discussions take place. In the before times, there was a non-profit in STL called Venture Cafe that hosted Thursday gatherings, providing a space to "Connect. Learn. Share." I attended so many interesting talks by thought leaders, innovators, and fledgling startups. 👂 One presentation that stuck with me was from Women in Product. By sitting and listening, I connected what I had read with the real-life experiences they were sharing. One common example they discussed was how people, often men, talk over or interrupt women in meetings or repeat something a woman just said, only for them to receive credit. 🧠 Ultimately, by being open to these experiences, I can expand my worldview and learn how to be a better human and ally. By embracing new perspectives, we become more empathetic, informed, and better equipped to make a positive impact. ⁉ Here's an example of that stolen valor. https://lnkd.in/gMjyAvXd 🎯 Here's the original post she wrote about an amazing woman whose history I had also never heard about. https://lnkd.in/gKxGhWnd But I know now, and so do you.💡✨ #Diversity #Inclusion #LifelongLearning #Allyship #Leadership #Empathy
General Partner at Joyful VC | #1 Bestselling Author of The Future of Food is Female | Founder of VWS | Women's Leadership Advocate | Keynote Speaker | Rolling Stone Contributor
I honestly CANNOT believe the irony of a man plagiarizing my work about a woman who had her career overshadowed by men. So, what happened? I woke up this morning to a notification from Leah Goodridge alerting me to a post from Filippo Lucca, which stole my copywritten LinkedIn content. Now, people steal on here. It's shameful. But what did Filippo Lucca decide to steal from me? A memorial that I wrote about Susan Wojcicki, former CEO of YouTube, who passed away last week. Susan's story of Google being built in her garage is rarely told, despite her being one of the most influential tech figures of our lifetime. Why? Because the story of the male founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, is the accepted story of Google's origin. I also happened to work with Google for five years and my old boss was very close to Susan -- I knew her story needed to get out there. So, as I do every week, I decided to set out and tell Susan's story to the world. Nearly a million impressions later, thousands of people replied with shock that they had never heard of her before. I wasn't shocked, though. The reason I write untold or lesser known stories of women's history in business is because, simply, nobody else will. This isn't news. Women's stories have been hidden for thousands of years. That's why I spend hours of my week, every week, to change it. One post at a time. I carefully research the key details of these women's lives, find patterns, and identify the most thoughtful way to tell their story. Some of these stories really blow up -- as they should. So, imagine my surprise, when I wake up this morning to find that a random man has not only copied my exact post and photo word-for-word, but failed to even tag me as a credit. This guy LITERALLY stole my work. My words are not just content, but they are my creativity, my originality, and a piece of my heart and soul. That is how I became a bestselling author. (In a hilarious twist, this man's profile actually states HE is a writer) Now, he's been calling out by hundreds of people for copyright infringement and to apologize, but refuses to respond. Thank you to everyone who has helped, so far. So, let me clear, Filippo Lucca. There are millions of women who have their stories stolen every day by men. I will not be one of them. Take your post down. #share