Most people on the front lines of health and wellbeing are women and yet most of the executives in these industries are men. This realization led to a deeper conversation with a small group of women leaders in early 2016. Quickly this group decided to focus their efforts on better supporting women in a holistic and systemic way, including the importance of supporting health and wellbeing. Without healthy female leadership, gender equity will continue to stall, or worse, move backwards. With passion, dedication and commitment, GW4W was born.
GW4W knows that quality research is needed to better address women’s health and wellbeing issues. And we need leadership to act on that research. We want the next generation of women to be supported and better prepared to step into leadership positions.
We recognize that:
- Women have different health risks than men
- Most health studies are done with male participants
- Women react to stress, prescription drugs, and shift work differently than men and often have different symptoms than men for health risks such as heart disease
- There is very limited funding for women’s health and wellbeing concerns
Women in the workplace have few leadership role models.
- Only 4.6% of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women
- Less than 20% of top tier executives are women
- Less than 20% of board members of the Fortune 500 are women
There are organizations supporting women in positive ways, however, there is no place where the information is aggregated and accessible.
GW4W recognizes that as women, we are complicated! Our health and wellbeing overlaps with our ability to be effective leaders and to create sustainable financial success. We don’t take these complexities for granted but rather look for systemic solutions to support our growth, development and wellbeing.
GW4W supports women by:
- Bringing siloed resources together
- Concentrating on funding quality research
- Supporting member owned health and wellbeing companies
- Building connections for women at all socioeconomic levels
- Educating and inspiring one another through ease of connection and deeper collaboration
We share some of the great work being done by women around the world in hopes of inspiring one other, including stories of women leading successful health and wellbeing initiatives. We are building a global network that is diverse, accessible and inclusive.
Whether you’re a business leader, an entrepreneur, a nurse, a physician, a teacher, a coach, a therapist, a lactation consultant, or a community activist, GW4W wants to share your story. Please join us and add your V.O.I.C.E.
