"Equality is important for all people"
Focusing on diversity, equality, and inclusion, MMTC (the Media, Management and Transformation Centre) arranged a conference where the participants were inspired by thought-provoking discussions and innovative ideas on the journey towards a more inclusive society. The event was held on Tuesday 26 March at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) at Jönköping University (JU).
One of the highlights of the conference was a segment with Sweden’s Minister for Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life., Paulina Brandberg. The minister was meant to give the opening speech “Women's Wallets: A Speech on economic Equality and Action”, however, she could unfortunately not attend. Instead, a pre-recorded speech was played, focusing on inequality in entrepreneurship, business, and the economy in society.
“The fight for gender equality is important for all people, not just women,” Paulina Brandberg said in her speech.
Watch the clip below to hear what Executive Vice President Salem Seifeddine, some of the speakers and visitors thought about Tuesday's conference.
Focus on inclusive work environments
The conference featured several interesting sessions and panel discussions. Equality, inclusion, and diversity were discussed, and the participants shared their experiences and discussed action plans on how to tackle these difficult and important issues.
One of the panels was "Innovation Unleashed: The power of inclusive organizing" led by Greta Gober, Assistant Professor, and Anna Ginalska, Associate Professor, from the University of Warsaw. Greta Gober, who is also a Postdoctoral researcher at Stockholm university, focuses her research on production culture, communication, and power relations in organizations, with particular emphasis on media organizations. Anna Ginalska conducts research on diversity and inclusion, the impact of new technologies on people’s lives, and media polarization.
The panel explored the importance of inclusive work environments to promote innovation and success. The panel also included Anna Mårtensson, Public Prosecutor Jönköping, and Anna Edstedt, Head of Q By Consid, who both shared work experiences related to inequality in the legal and IT and technology industries respectively.
In the morning, Petter Björkebäck, Founder and CEO of Village Organizational Development, held a much-appreciated speech on Inclusive Design in which he emphasized that nothing is neutral. Every action, or lack thereof, is either inclusive, exclusive, or a combination of both.
The afternoon featured a session with Rosa Indenbaum (Director of Operations at Trase) and Sandra Subel (Change Leader, DEIB Expert, where they delved into the complexity of diversity and strategies and practical ways to navigating these. The concluding session was led by Nora Bavey (General Partner at Unconventional Ventures and Cofounder UV Accelerator), and Evelina Anttila, (Managing Partner/CEO at Wellstreet, investor, co-founder of Justic, AI advisor), under the title "Investing in Diversity: A Blueprint for Inclusive Economy".
Nora B Nora Bavey, (Director of Operations på Trace), and Evelina Anttila, (Managing Partner/CEO at Wellstreet, Investor, Co-founder of Justic, AI advisor) under the title "Investing in Diversity: A blueprint for inclusive economy."
In summary, it was a very successful conference with great engagement from speakers and panel members as well as visitors. It is clear that equality is important for all people!
