Q. What inspired you to co-found a co-living startup based in Bangladesh that provides housing to bachelors-especially women?

Ans. I think having experienced first hand what it’s like to be a women as a founder and realising how lonely the journey was for me due to access to enough female founders to even vent to was my earliest signal that things need to change. When I started working in my business which eventually grew into co-living platform, the more I researched the more I found out about women professionals and students having to choose between safety and affordability.

 

Q. What drew you towards empowering fellow women in the society?

Ans. Every step of the way it seems women are just living the most difficult version of any profession/pathway. Out of sheer frustration I started an online community called Working Women. I met so many amazing women along the way, who have joined me to push the vision of putting more women in leadership roles. So through my job or free time, I’ve made it a mission to pull more women up and advocate for equitable terms.

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Q. Are industries such as Venture Capital harsher towards women?

Ans. Venture Capital experience has been super sad as well. Most female entrepreneurs build more profitable businesses statistically, yet most funding goes to male-founded startups. And most funds are run by men. So now I want more women managing capital, so more women entrepreneurs will get better access to capital.

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Q. Have women in Bangladesh been more empowered since the launch of the Garmeen Bank and its micro credit programme? Are women in Bangladesh equally represented across all industries?

Ans. So we do have a large percentage of women who are part of the labour force. Be it in factories, schools, hospitals, you'll see a lot of women, especially from lower economic backgrounds are empowered enough to be able to be part of the workforce. However, you won't see this translating into mid-level roles, senior roles. Go to a factory, you might see they employ thousands of women workers. But you'll see very few, if any at all, in the management level, or in managerial roles.

 

So while Grameen Bank and the Grameen ecosystem have unlocked more women to be able to earn an income, our ecosystem still operates largely without adequate female representation in decision making roles. Most traditional businesses are still male-dominated. Very few organisations, such as the one I work at, YY Ventures, or development sector orgs or multinational companies, have good gender balance. But they make up a small fraction of the economy.

Bangladesh is increasingly understanding that the global economy is at a state where a single breadwinner in the family is no longer a viable option to be financially secure/stable. But the ownership of assets, head of the househeld, and authority still lie with men. Women are empowered, but men still gatekeep key industry zones and leadership.

 

Q. Are men still more likely to be entrusted with leadership positions in the financial world than women, even if both possess the same capabilities? 

Ans. So data actually suggests women are better with finances. They are more likely to pay back loans, they build startups that are capital efficient and generate higher revenue per dollar invested.

In my opinion, men get more leadership roles because of the following:
1. Most large traditional organisations we see today were built by men who will always hire more men in leadership roles. They still work in the assumption that women cannot make good leaders. And they have created a work environment where women cannot grow much less feel comfortable working in.

2. Women tend to second guess themselves and need to match almost all criterias of a role before they apply. Which means they sometimes lose out on opportunities before it begins.

3. Most women can’t work properly because of traditions, culture where families don’t let women work freely, work late, they have more priorities outside of work (all the unpaid labour of taking care of household work, raising children), all of which holds them back from advancing in work.

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