I Have A Dream… (Too)

Yesterday marked 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood before thousands to express his dream.  He didn’t want his dreams to be dreams anymore.  He had a dream that his four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Powerful.

I have a dream too.

There are currently only 17 heads of state out of 195 who do not have a Y chromosome. Women hold about 20% of all seats in parliaments globally. Slightly more than 4% of FORTUNE 500 companies are headed by women, and women hold 17% of board seats. Worse, these numbers aren’t changing very fast. Ten years ago, 14% of board seats were held by women. A decade has passed, and women have gotten a few inches farther into the boardroom.

Is there anything wrong with that?  Kind of.  Companies with women in leadership positions, actually do a hell of a lot better than companies which do not.

I have dreams of being a princess, always having a cushion of money in my bank account, and having enough Nutella to forever make me happy.  But those are thankfully not the dreams I wanted to share with you.

I wanted to share my other dreams.

• I have a dream that I will become a leader for millions.
• I have a dream that I will not have to justify that I am a woman leader, but a leader-equal to all others.
• I have a dream that I will stand next to hundreds and be viewed equally as much of a leader as the next.
• I have a dream that I will live in a nation where I will one day not be judged by my sex but by the content of my character.