The two previous blogs focused on how the women’s group came to fruition at BDA as well as a rundown of our first three quarters of existence. Looking to 2024, we are focused on crafting strategy, defining initiatives and planning programming. But most notably, we are building a community – one rooted in inclusion, advocacy, and empowerment – to strengthen our ‘experts only’ workforce.
In today’s immediate-access, influencer-led world, the above terms are used in many different contexts, often associated with an aspiring trend, and included more for clicks than knowledge share. But the potential impact of these concepts should not be underestimated. As a refresher, Merriam-Webster1 offers the following definitions:
Inclusion (n): the act or practice of including and accommodating people who have historically been excluded
Advocacy (n): the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal
Empowerment (n):
i – the act or action of empowering someone or something
ii – the state of being empowered to do something
Expanding these to practical application, inclusion is two-fold; it is not only the physical act of including others, but the safety of being included. Advocacy expands beyond a tangible idea or cause; it is also the confidence that accompanies having advocates. Empowerment is the result of these two concepts: when people are included and able to advocate for themselves, they are empowered to express ideas, voice perspectives, and make more significant contributions. On a macro level, empowerment makes any group, team, or organization stronger.
In 2024, the BDA Women’s Group will continue to build on the foundation we have created in 2023, offering diverse programming and formats to accommodate the wide-ranging abilities of our members. We will expand our connections with organizations outside of BDA (look for us at Splash!) and increase the Group’s reach in several additional arenas.
To be clear: not everyone needs a network like we have built within BDA (and that’s ok!). For those that do, the Women’s Group provides that necessary platform for our members and workforce. As a result, we bring more creative, knowledgeable, and collaborative people to all of OneStream (OS) projects, further strengthening the success and transformational outcomes for our clients’ OS implementations.
Look for additional pieces in coming months on other components of BDA culture and how those translate to client success!
