On Tuesday, March 11, the Board of Good (BOG) hosted an evening conference at Hennessy Park Hotel in Ébène, following International Women’s Day. The event, generously sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), gathered around 130 guests, including BOG members, professionals from the public and private sectors, and SCB invitees.
Sharmila Chakowa, President of the BOG, welcomed the guests with a brief introduction. She then handed over to Safia Timol, Head of Conduct, Financial Crime, and Compliance at SCB, who emphasised the bank’s commitment to empowering and emancipating women. She discussed their GOAL program in collaboration with Junior Achievement Mascareignes, which aims to help women from disadvantaged backgrounds accelerate their employability through various stages, including “learn” and “earn” modules.
Next, Dr. Anouchka Sooriamoorthy, a philosopher, took the floor to speak on female empowerment. Anouchka chose to approach the topic through a very masculine lens: money.
Anouchka began by addressing alarming statistics on gender discrimination and the false beliefs women often have about solutions: time, the law, and the help of men. She deconstructed these beliefs, reminding the audience that an oppressed person has never been liberated by their oppressor. She pointed out that if we are content with the current pace of evolution, it would take 131 years to achieve gender equality, and that laws, despite having evolved, are still imperfect and unjust, just as humans are inherently imperfect. Anouchka then proposed a challenge to the gathered women: “What if we made money our best ally?”
To do so, she analyzed how humans and society view money. This representation is very masculine, as men are the ones who hold it. Money is associated with power, domination, corruption, and arrogance. But what if women decided to give money a different interpretation and use? It’s not about money itself, but how women can use it to emancipate themselves.
Many stereotypes exist about women and their relationship with money: women are too emotional to handle money, while men are rational; women love to overspend and are less competent at understanding the technicalities of finance. Can these clichés be generalized?
It is also clear that banks grant fewer loans to women based on what they earn, which is less than men, and that women get less professional recognition because they allocate more time and energy to domestic tasks. This mental and physical load mathematically leaves them with less time to make money.
How can money become the best ally for women? Money generally succeeds in doing everything and its opposite; it builds as much as it destroys. It is up to the individual to decide what to do with it. Money can become an ally for women if they choose not to imitate men in their use of it, if they choose not to hide behind the excuse of ignorance because everything can be learned, and if they decide to aim for financial independence, which will lead to physical and mental freedom by thinking independently, free from patriarchal conditioning.
The floor was then given to Kunda Neill, Head of Corporate Affairs, Branding and Marketing at SCB, who coordinated the public’s contribution to this topic. Natacha Emilien, founder of BOG, reminded everyone that we need to accelerate action now: “Let’s be the actors of change.” Finally, Mr. Abrar A Anwar, CEO of SCB, concluded with an encouraging note, citing the example of Bangladesh, his home country, where 95% of the workforce is female, and money is used wisely. He encouraged the audience to imagine what an economy driven by female skills could look like: multitasking, tenacity in negotiations, precision, and focus in execution, to name a few.
The evening continued with a light refreshment, where guests had the chance to connect and rekindle professional and friendly bonds. The event ended around 9 PM, and the guests left with a piece of inspiration from the colorful evening.
About the Board of Good (BOG)
The BOG is an independent, non-profit citizen initiative, launched in July 2021 by Natacha Emilien. Following alarming observations regarding the underrepresentation of women on Mauritian boards, the BOG’s mission is to identify, give visibility, and amplify the voices of potential female candidates for corporate boards and organizations in Mauritius.
