Plugging away

I thought I'd dedicate this week's newsletter to persistent women. So many of us just have to grit our teeth and keep going. So seeing women achieving success in their older years is a massive inspiration.

Jessica Coolidge's acceptance speech at the Golden Globes articulates so well what it means to have success later in life. Here's an article on her career renaissance aged 61. And Viola Davis spent thirty years in supporting roles before playing the lead in a major studio movie.

Another persistent woman was the brilliant Betty Boothroyd, who died this week, at the age of 93. She was Labour's parliamentary candidate four times before finally winning in West Bromwich East in 1973. According to his memoir, David Owen who beat her for selection in Plymouth East in 1965, "The strongest challenge came from ...Betty Boothroyd, She spoke far better than I."

Here's an article by my friend Natasa Pantelic about Betty's long and mould-breaking career.

It's never too late, my friends.

Interesting and useful links 🖇️

Hope Not Hate released their report into far right extremism this week.

Bond published a free online resource to support international development organisations working to embed anti-racist practice

The Institute of Business Ethics has published a guide to how to measure ethical culture within organisations

Learning points 🎓

Women have to harness their power – it’s absolutely true. It’s just learning not to take the first no. And if you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner.

Cher

Day of the Week 📆

It was St David's Day this week and I wanted to give a shout out to the Welsh Government's new roads review which reported recently, aiming to reduce the number of car journeys. Transport accounts for 15% of emissions in Wales so it's reduction is a key element of reaching Net Zero.

As they say,

For decades, increasing capacity for cars on our road network has been seen as a solution to transport problems. This has contributed to increasing reliance on the private car, resulting in urban sprawl and in many instances exacerbation of congestion, which has an economic impact and causes access issues as well as social and environmental problems.

What am I reading? 📚

Pelosi by Molly Ball is a brilliant read about another impressive woman politician. Nancy Pelosi had five children before being elected to the House of Representatives in her late forties.

What am I watching? 👀

Talking of Jessica Coolidge, we've been watching The White Lotus.

What am I listening to?👂

I've been listening to Griefcast, a podcast about grief hosted by comedian, Cariad Lloyd.

My goal right from the beginning was that I wanted it to be a podcast that, when it stopped, you didn’t feel worse.

Joy-giving things 😍

Have some snowdrops! Spotted on Kinver Edge.

Have a happy weekend everyone

Lucy

I write this newsletter because I believe in sharing progressive ideas that help us work towards a truly equal world.

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ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

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