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Give To Gain emphasises the power of reciprocity and support. When people, organisations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase. Giving is not a subtraction, it's intentional multiplication. When women thrive, we all rise.Whether through donations, knowledge, resources, infrastructure, visibility, advocacy, education, training, mentoring, or time, contributing to women's advancement helps create a more supportive and interconnected world.
This International Women's Day, ClearRoute hosted two fireside chats, connecting colleagues across Australia, Bulgaria, India, the UK and US with inspiring external speakers for open, honest conversations about gender equity, mentoring and sponsoring, allyship, and the structures we all have the power to change.
Our 'Shout Outs' slack channel was repurposed as a #GiveToGain amplification space - a place to celebrate women's achievements and call out allyship in action. Our Talking Cards, shared at each event, sparked real conversations around representation, retention, and allyship - they were a wonderful chance to slow down, listen, and reflect over lunch.
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In our Asia-Pacific region, Supriya Rao hosted a Fireside Chat with Emma Jones, an expert in workplace culture and gender equity, for an honest and energising conversation with the India and Australia teams.
Supriya opened with a call to action that set the tone for the session — 'inspiration is wonderful, but change only happens when intention turns into action.' Rather than saving questions for the end, the team used Slido throughout, letting the audience shape the direction of the discussion in real time and close with a collective commitment: what is the one thing you will do differently today?
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Emma Jones brought candour and expertise to the conversation, challenging the room to look beyond individual confidence and at the systems around us. One of the session's sharpest insights centred on the like me bias - the deeply human tendency to gravitate towards people who feel familiar. As Emma put it, this natural pattern-matching in our brains becomes genuinely dangerous when it shapes hiring and people decisions. Her challenge to anyone involved in recruitment or talent decisions: slow down, ask yourself why you're drawn to a particular candidate, and interrogate your own decision-making before acting on it.
The session closed with a wave of commitments from attendees - mentoring, reaching out to someone new, creating more welcoming spaces - a reminder that the smallest acts of support can change someone's entire trajectory. As Supriya put it in her closing: "Let's all choose to give, so others can gain.
"Over in the UK, Kouros Aliabadi hosted a Fireside Chat with Shreya Krishnan, a leading voice in gender equity, technology, and social impact. Kouros opened by reflecting on what International Women's Day means, not just as a date in the calendar, but as a moment for honest reflection on the progress made and the strides still needed. "It is a reminder of how far we've come, and how far we still have to go," he noted. This year's theme, Give to Gain, resonated deeply with ClearRoute's own ethos as a people business - one where investing in people is investing in the organisation itself.
Shreya Krishnan brought a wealth of perspective to the conversation. As the head of AnitaB.org India & Asia, a member of UNESCO's Women for Ethical AI South Asia chapter, and an advisory board member across twenty organisations spanning environment, social justice, and women's rights, her work sits at the intersection of technology, equity, and human dignity. She spoke powerfully about the biases embedded in AI systems - reflecting the very biases that exist in our world - and the urgent need for governance and diverse representation in how those systems are built.
A two-time author, Shreya's first book Words Matter (2018) examined how language itself shapes the way women perceive and present themselves. Her forthcoming book, Audacious Her, explores authentic leadership and the courage to be fully oneself in any room. As a performance poet and dancer, she brings activism to life through art - demonstrating that advocacy and expression are never separate.
Perhaps most memorable was Shreya's closing sentiment: "Happy Women's Day to the feminine in all of you." A reminder that gender equity is not a conversation for women alone, it is a collective, global movement that benefits everyone.
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Give To Gain emphasises the power of reciprocity and support. When people, organisations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase. Giving is not a subtraction, it's intentional multiplication. When women thrive, we all rise.Whether through donations, knowledge, resources, infrastructure, visibility, advocacy, education, training, mentoring, or time, contributing to women's advancement helps create a more supportive and interconnected world.
This International Women's Day, ClearRoute hosted two fireside chats, connecting colleagues across Australia, Bulgaria, India, the UK and US with inspiring external speakers for open, honest conversations about gender equity, mentoring and sponsoring, allyship, and the structures we all have the power to change.
Our 'Shout Outs' slack channel was repurposed as a #GiveToGain amplification space - a place to celebrate women's achievements and call out allyship in action. Our Talking Cards, shared at each event, sparked real conversations around representation, retention, and allyship - they were a wonderful chance to slow down, listen, and reflect over lunch.
In our Asia-Pacific region, Supriya Rao hosted a Fireside Chat with Emma Jones, an expert in workplace culture and gender equity, for an honest and energising conversation with the India and Australia teams.
Supriya opened with a call to action that set the tone for the session — 'inspiration is wonderful, but change only happens when intention turns into action.' Rather than saving questions for the end, the team used Slido throughout, letting the audience shape the direction of the discussion in real time and close with a collective commitment: what is the one thing you will do differently today?
Emma Jones brought candour and expertise to the conversation, challenging the room to look beyond individual confidence and at the systems around us. One of the session's sharpest insights centred on the like me bias - the deeply human tendency to gravitate towards people who feel familiar. As Emma put it, this natural pattern-matching in our brains becomes genuinely dangerous when it shapes hiring and people decisions. Her challenge to anyone involved in recruitment or talent decisions: slow down, ask yourself why you're drawn to a particular candidate, and interrogate your own decision-making before acting on it.
The session closed with a wave of commitments from attendees - mentoring, reaching out to someone new, creating more welcoming spaces - a reminder that the smallest acts of support can change someone's entire trajectory. As Supriya put it in her closing: "Let's all choose to give, so others can gain.
"Over in the UK, Kouros Aliabadi hosted a Fireside Chat with Shreya Krishnan, a leading voice in gender equity, technology, and social impact. Kouros opened by reflecting on what International Women's Day means, not just as a date in the calendar, but as a moment for honest reflection on the progress made and the strides still needed. "It is a reminder of how far we've come, and how far we still have to go," he noted. This year's theme, Give to Gain, resonated deeply with ClearRoute's own ethos as a people business - one where investing in people is investing in the organisation itself.
Shreya Krishnan brought a wealth of perspective to the conversation. As the head of AnitaB.org India & Asia, a member of UNESCO's Women for Ethical AI South Asia chapter, and an advisory board member across twenty organisations spanning environment, social justice, and women's rights, her work sits at the intersection of technology, equity, and human dignity. She spoke powerfully about the biases embedded in AI systems - reflecting the very biases that exist in our world - and the urgent need for governance and diverse representation in how those systems are built.
A two-time author, Shreya's first book Words Matter (2018) examined how language itself shapes the way women perceive and present themselves. Her forthcoming book, Audacious Her, explores authentic leadership and the courage to be fully oneself in any room. As a performance poet and dancer, she brings activism to life through art - demonstrating that advocacy and expression are never separate.
Perhaps most memorable was Shreya's closing sentiment: "Happy Women's Day to the feminine in all of you." A reminder that gender equity is not a conversation for women alone, it is a collective, global movement that benefits everyone.