Despite increased awareness of gender equity issues, and commitment by various executives and industry leaders, progress towards equality appeared to have stalled. Is it really a lifestyle choice, or is it born out of necessity (i.e. constraints), perhaps due to lack of affordable childcare, flexible work arrangements, and outdated cultural norms that women should bear the primary caregiving responsibilities – of children and older parents? In this episode of Shades of Grey, Theodora Lau and Arunkumar Krishnakumar speak with Catherine Flax, CEO of PEFin. Catherine made her transition to the startup world after several successful years at Wall Street. The discussion focuses on her transition from Wall street to the start up world, and the take aways from there. The conversation then moves into the Venture capital industry and the biases that a woman founder faces. Unless women are being appointed into the senior roles (in banking, VC, and tech alike), no substantial changes will occur. And it’s not just about helping women getting into the corner offices either; to achieve sustainable success will require cultural and policy changes to support working parents. Deloitte, for example, is introducing a new policy that allows parents to take 18 weeks of parental leave over 36 months – recognizing that parenting is not something that happens for only 12 months. Listen in for more insights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.