By Flora Gonska:
Global Equality Collective, and its program Gender Equality Collective, is an amazing organization breaking down gender-based inequality! Their Gender Equality & Inclusion app uses benchmarks so employers and employees within a workplace can track and grow equality and inclusion. Read on to hear more about some of their programs and community!
FG: Tell us all about you and your organization! Cat Wildman (a Director in Tech) and I (a teacher of Tech) were introduced online and put our brains together to create a practical way to help homes, schools, and businesses become gender equal. This was two years ago, and now The GEC is a Collective, with a Charter and a Community of over 10K. We are a movement—and a solution.
We are very excited as we have now also launched our website, Smashing Stereotypes, for young people.
We launched with a national competition and had parents, teachers, and teens sharing media projects with us on how we can all get #SmashingStereotypes. It was incredible! We are now looking for more entries and would love GenZ to send us their ideas! You can do this on social media or send them to office@thegec.org FG: Why do you think it’s important for your generation to let their voices be heard? We believe everyone is responsible for ending gender imbalance. We launched with our hashtag of #SmashingStereotypes; it means no more telling you what you can or can’t do just because you are male or female. It means no more barriers stopping you from doing what you want or being who or what you want.
Part of this meant that we moved from speaking to adults and to young people. Hence we set up SmashingStereotypes for children and young people to be a site entirely by young people for young people. We want them to tell us how we should be #SmashingStereotypes by showing us.
On our GEC website, we also have examples of how our community and Collective help us learn and grow. We have collected the best books, videos, blogs, and ideas—even created new panels of people—to ensure we really know what we are talking about.
FG: Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Optimistic! There is everything to play for! GenZ are more informed and knowledgeable than all others that have come before them. In a COVID-19 world, interconnectedness is key, and we know that young people have the fight and rebelliousness to help make the world a better—and more equal place—for us all.
FG: What does your organization offer that helps the world be a better place?
Practical ideas that work to change the world. We also listen to the younger generation; they are the future, and we want to hear what they have to say and all their ideas so that we can help them to implement them.
FG: Tell everyone where to find you online and on social platforms.
www.thegec.org @geccollect https://thegec.org/community FG: If there is anything else you would like to say, please do!
When it comes to our SmashingStereotypes site, we would really love the whole site to be run by young people. So if anyone out there is interested in editing, writing, graphic design, web-design and content, photography, animation, illustrations, or ANYTHING they want to share when it comes to equality, please get in touch.
In addition to this, if you are a change maker and/or champion for equality and inclusion, please join our Smashing Stereotypes Collective! We are now looking for young people to help impact on schools, workplaces, and homes. We would love to hear from you! We are also going to be focusing on the #SmashingStereotypes Toys and Games List 2020 on our social media channels—these can be baby toys, grown-up board games, or anything in between! We want gender equal, diverse, and inclusive #SmashingStereotypes toys and games. These can be from you, parents, or businesses—big and small.
WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS THE BEST OUT THERE SMASHING IT UP!
Check out #GECBestToys and get your nominations in (p.s., there will be prizes for the best nominations, so tag us into your nomination videos and/or send us photos and words to our office@thegec.org titled "#BestToys"). Lastly, The GEC is launching the GEC app for businesses and schools in the autumn of 2020 and are VERY excited about it. We are passionate about moving beyond talking to taking action. If you think your school or your parents should get more involved, please show them this article and ask them to join the GEC!
A Cleveland, OH, native, Flora Gonska is a non-binary trans woman from a big family. She's a writer, video producer/editor, and artist. An avid supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and equality movement, she has lived in Los Angeles for three years, and she's involved in and enjoys writing on politics, the LGBTQ+ community, and life in the U.S.