Celebrating
International
Women's Day.

Dear Innovator

This special edition page is for International Women’s Day, which began as a new idea by 100 women in Copenhagen in 1910, and now is celebrated worldwide, including as a public holiday in 28 countries, from Armenia to Zambia.

At Board of Innovation, we recognize that, from pharmaceuticals to seatbelts, most innovations have been developed from a male perspective. Our goals for this issue are to celebrate some important recent innovations for women and by women and to inspire more of them.

As you make what life needs next, we hope you will continue to practice inclusive innovation…and that some of our stories will help you think about how to do so!

Best wishes,

 

Tiffany from Board of Innovation

22% more

Exploring
gender bias in generative AI

I worry that generative AI gender biases – and the fraternity that is now deciding how to configure these new tech systems  – will undermine the broader efforts to address gender gaps in the workforce.

We’re not quite there yet

A word on
inclusive
innovation

I’m our Chief People Officer but first and foremost, I’m a very single mother to an amazing bi-racial teenage son so I have always had a clear personal mandate; to build companies that cater to my needs as an employee, and companies he could work for that would make me happy and proud.

At Board of Innovation
we're a 51% female
company

We support our internal innovators; we want to honor each individual’s passion and purpose. Here’s a few of our success stories of our team as they pursue their own passion and interested.

Every year Aya has decided to learn something new. In 2018, as she left New York City for San Diego, she decided that she would like to learn how to wear a kimono after seeing them at a museum and remembering that her Japanese grandmother hand-made a kimono for her when she was born. Since then, she’s been on an adventure! After taking lessons from a teacher in San Diego, she was able to not only wear a kimono but also gain perspective on how kimonos relate to our modern world. Aya has given presentations and demonstrations on kimono wearing, Japanese fashion culture, the relationship between apparel fashion and our bodies, and how historical apparel like kimonos were designed for circularity. Given the rise of popularity of manga and anime, Aya has been able to help share the experience of wearing kimono or adopting its traditions in new contexts for several major events, weddings, and commercial film and photography engagements.

Welyn curates and sources for vintage/antique home decor pieces from around the world. A lot of these pieces are no longer in production so they each have their own unique origin story. Weylyn wants to encourage purchasing secondhand over brand new items so she will often upcycle these pieces to give them new life (by painting on them or just creating something entirely new!) She also sells her own art on her page called Fourth Orbit to represent the circularity of these things and how they consistently pass from one hand to another.

Michelle is following her newly found passion, sailing in the harbors of NYC. She’s a member of the One15 sailing club and sails on an exciting America’s cup inspired boat called a Melges 24 (24’) that crewed with a team of 5, including 3 other women. Usually Michelle is the jib trimmer.

Tiffany is on the Board of TrueGreen, a cannabis technology company that creates operational efficiencies for producers, supports regulatory compliance, and enhances consumer safety for the industry. Tiffany feels there is a big need to support minorities and women as the cannabis industry develops in the US. As she says “Social impact needs to be woven into the foundation of the recreational cannabis industry. Despite similar usage, people of color have been disproportionately arrested at 4X the rate of caucasians. Today, less than 2% of dispensaries are owned by black people and less than 20% are owned by women. Social impact is a critical consideration as the US cannabis industry moves toward legalization in all states.”

Klara is translating her lifelong passion for making order from chaos into a side gig organizing spaces and places for clients. She is working on projects ranging from organizing their basement clutter to creating immaculate office spaces. Klara, a self proclaimed “order ambassador”, says “when your space is organized, you are twice as productive!”

We asked what
women need next...

Live Event | March 27th at London

Innov8hers

Introducing our inaugural event for Innov8hers, a partnership with Board of Innovation and Innov8rs to advance innovation for women and by women.

Our first event is a panel discussion on March 27th in London exploring what women want and need next and how female innovators can deliver on that.

Seats are limited so please register today! More events to follow.

VIRTUAL SUMMIT

Autonomous
Innovation

JUNE 5 & 6