The Filipina Women’s Network (FWN) is a San Francisco- based nonprofit, nonpartisan international advocacy organization that seeks to increase the power and influence of Filipina women as leaders and policy-makers at all levels in corporate and government institutions to achieve economic and social justice and women’s rights.
Since its founding 15 years ago, FWN has conducted a worldwide search for Filipina women who are accomplishing great work leaving a lasting Filipino global imprint through their work in communities, organizations and in their professional and industry sectors. To date, over 1,000 Filipina women who exemplify innovation, mentorship, professionalism, gender empowerment and leadership have been awarded the Global FWN Award. I am honored to have received the award in 2016. The awardees come from 30 countries: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, People’s Republic of China (Hong Kong), Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Filipina women, especially overseas Filipina workers and Filipina women in the diaspora, are the ultimate disrupters. They disrupted their personal and professional lives and their organizations as they become achievers in their professional fields and broke “glass ceilings.” Filipina women disrupted the business landscape when they innovated products, improved or created services that improved the lives of women and the citizenry. They disrupted their communities, as they become strong advocates for social issues that affected their families and children.
Filipina women across the world have engaged in culture-spanning and have overcome increased complexity in their work. Filipino women do not back down—once they make up their minds that they will get behind a cause or an issue that will change how we live or aim for that promotion or leadership position—they don’t stop. They’re tenacious. They’re firm. They’re forceful. And they don’t give up.
This week FWN is in London, UK, which is celebrating 100 years of votes for women. In 1918 The Representation of the People Act and the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act marked a crucial milestone in the struggle of women in the UK for the right to vote. These two 1918 Acts were not the culmination of women’s struggles, for it would be another 10 years before women’s voting rights were made equal to men’s. It took four decades before women were able to become members of the House of Lords; and, although in the last 20 years many more women have been elected to the Commons, they still make up only a third of the House.
Like in the UK, much more remains to be done in the Philippines. Although recent surveys indicate that the Filipina women are the most empowered in Asia, we continue to struggle to get as many women as there are men in elective and appointive positions in the government. There remains more “glass ceilings” to break in the corporate world and in the private sector.
But, the Filipina women are the ultimate disrupters. Nothing for them is impossible—it just takes a bit longer!