It was a whirlwind – filled with the type of days that leave your head hot from intense conversation and the sharing of big ideas. It was also a culture shock to be in amongst so many CEOs, Directors and decision-makers, rather than my familiar work-from-home set up.
As an invited Emerging Leader, I felt it was my responsibility to soak up as much of the experience as possible, but also to challenge where appropriate. I learnt a lot through the conference from listening to speakers, seeing how their points were received, the questions being asked, the types of voices speaking up and lots from the other young people.
I also met some great people, doing great work. Shoutout to Katie White, the co-founder of Enough to end rape – Her work in Bristol is vital and grassroots and giving people in vulnerable situations more options. Please contact Katie (katie@myenough.com) if you are able to support her work.
Conversely being in the same room as Kemi Badenoch was a strange experience. In all honesty, seeing so many people intently listening to her – when she has and continues to express hateful narratives about women, immigrants, disabled people, trans people and other minorities, made me question whether I was in the right place to be co-creating a future of Britain I could be proud of.
Audre Lorde’s words came up in one talk I attended
“The master’s tools won’t dissemble the master’s house.”
– and I found myself repeating them throughout any challenging moments and using them to be brave and ask questions when given the opportunity.
Hearing Katie Treggiden and Indy Johar speak during a session on design was a definite highlight. It brought home that perhaps I should stop trying to communicate – and instead try to converse. This two-way approach is engaging, adaptable and allows for a balancing of power dynamics.
Attending their session felt reassuring – in the sense that what we are trying to do at OnePlanet is following a path led by leaders in design thinking and making.
Stand out points for me were Katie expressing their will for us all to keep redesigning with empathy and to come to design with curiosity – challenging hierarchies and yet acknowledging power dynamics. Indy explored how design needs to support and enable the collective intelligence of a group, and designers need to step into accountability for their designs. It was a calming session in which I related to the speakers and the ideas!
A lesson I’ve brought home came from Martha Lane Fox. She instilled that when working with government – or anyone who is difficult to pin down – you should focus on just one or two of your wants… and then ‘go relentlessly after them’. She also shared some principles for making good decisions in work:
1. Will it matter in 10 years?
2. Has/ will it bring different people into the room?
3. Am I using and learning the tools of the future?
Also from Martha Lane Fox, I learnt that
There are fewer women working in tech today, than there were 30 years ago.
As a woman in tech, this one rippled through me but didn’t shock. We are living in times which feel ever- increasingly backwards.
However, an uplifting moment came on day two when I went to a panel talk with Zahra Bahrololoumi, the UK and Ireland CEO of Salesforce. She spoke candidly about her non-linear path into tech, her experience as a first generation daughter of immigrant parents, and showed the audience exactly what it can look like to be a successful woman in tech today.
Lastly, of course I made time to explore the famous biomes! With all their weird and wonderful plants and the colourful ground scratching birds in the Rainforest biome that I’d have to travel thousands of miles to otherwise see.
