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The S in ESG - Women Empowerment

“Modesty and self promotion are not mutually exclusive, and they can go hand in hand”

Orly Glick, CEO and Co-founder of ESGgo, sat down with Shirley Dloomy Manny, to discuss empowerment through self promotion and how this idea is taught in the ‘I’m remarkable’ initiative.

Born in Israel and raised in the United States, Shirley has been practicing law in Israel for the past 13 years, and prior to that in the US. Eight years ago, she joined Google. In addition to being Senior Legal Counsel leading D&I initiatives in Google Israel, to empower both Googlers and external communities, Shirley has been leading the ‘I’m remarkable’ initiative for the past two years.

The ‘I'm remarkable’ initiative started at Google Israel six years ago and today is a global initiative that's offered in hundreds of countries. The initiative started primarily for women, recognizing that women and other underrepresented groups struggle with the notion of self-promoting and find the idea of mentioning their achievements uncomfortable within the cultural gender norms.

Trouble with self-promoting can easily translate into feeling under qualified for a position. One of the studies mentioned in the workshop shows the difference in men’s and women’s perception of themselves, when applying for a position. The study shows that generally, men tend to apply when they feel they meet 60% of the criteria for a position, whereas women tend to apply only if they feel they meet 100% of the criteria.

As Shirley mentions, this is not an issue that’s exclusive to juniors: “We're seeing more female and underrepresented groups in the workplace. So certainly we're making strides in the right direction, but we've got a long way to go. …Even workshops that I run for really senior female executives, partners, they share that they experience the same discomfort and difficulty self-promoting as their younger counterparts, those students who are about to enter the workforce“.

Watch the full interview below: