Every year on International Women’s Day, we take a moment to celebrate the achievements of the women on our team – each from a very different corner of the globe.
International Women’s Day has been running for over 100 years, yet in 2021, it’s just as important as ever to raise awareness of women’s equality and lobby for gender parity.
To join the conversation, we’d love to start by celebrating the achievements of the women on our team. Each one is passionate, dedicated, humble yet fiery in her own way, and together, we are proud to work in a studio that honours diversity, inclusivity and accessibility.
Leigh Tinkler is the driving force behind our studio’s welcoming culture. If we could bottle her energy, optimism, empathy and enthusiasm and share them around the world, it would be a kinder, happier planet.
Elena Dikanova is our resident Siberian and without her formidable organisational skills, client rapport, razor-sharp insights and calm (yet stern) reminders, we’d all be, quite frankly, a little lost.
As for Isabelle Cabrera, our newest recruit, she brings buckets of thoughtfulness, curiosity and integrity to every project. She’s originally from Cebu in the Philippines and has worked all over the world, so we feel lucky to be benefiting from her global knowledge of ‘best practice’ design and architectural processes.
We also feel very lucky to be working once again with Kaoru Kishida, who first joined our studio as an intern in 2019. Kaoru is originally from Japan, and we have learned so much her unique way of seeing the world, and her ability to throw herself into any project with energy and smiles.
As for Barbara Messer, our only born-and-bred Sydneysider, she is a passionate advocate for design and designers, and we’re delighted she is helping to share BrandCulture’s stories with the world.
The theme of International Women’s Day 2021 is #choosetochallenge. From challenge comes change, so raising awareness about women’s equality and challenging instances of inequality continues to be really important. Australia ranks 44th on the Global Gender Gap Index, and at the current pace of change, global gender equality is still 100 years away. It’s worth watching this message from UN Australia, which asks ‘When will she be right?’
So, let’s #choosetochallenge and continue to acknowledge and celebrate women’s achievements – Happy International Women’s Day!
Above from left to right: Barbara, Kaoru, Elena, Isabelle and Leigh.
