Proud to be a British (female) Diplomat

When I first told my dad that I wanted to be a British diplomat, he told me not to be daft; as a woman who hadn’t studied at either Oxford or Cambridge University, I didn’t stand a chance, he said. I like to think he was protecting me from disappointment. Or perhaps he was employing reverse psychology. Either way, I set out to prove him wrong. Now, nearly 20 years later, I’m proud to be the Foreign Policy Counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.

I spent the first 16 years of my career trying to ignore my gender. It never seemed to impede my progression or my performance. And I didn’t want to be labelled or sidelined as “that woman, who talks about women’s issues.” I wanted to be taken seriously as a professional. Not as a professional woman.

Over the last few years I’ve become much more willing to talk about being a female diplomat and to engage on women’s issues. I like to think I’m a role model for male and female colleagues who want to see that success in the British diplomatic service can look and sound different to the classic stereotypes. Although the Foreign Office still has a way to go to meet our gender (and other diversity) targets, I’m encouraged by the growing presence of women throughout the diplomatic service and the strength of our efforts to tackle the inbuilt biases (some human; some institutional) that continue to limit women’s progression. Today, I’m a proud and confident advocate of women and a champion for gender equality in diplomacy.

Most of the issues that we (in)conveniently label as “women’s issues” are of course not solely the preserve of women. They’re about families, communities and businesses; and the issues affect women, men, girls and boys. The call for more businesses to embrace agile working or support better work-life balance comes from male and female workers alike, all of whom want to find better ways to achieve their professional goals and focus on their personal priorities.

As a fellow Brit, it was gratifying to watch Emma Watson launch the HeforShe campaign at last year’s UN General Assembly. This calls on men and boys to help tackle women’s inequality, on the grounds that gender equality affects everyone socially, economically and politically. And as a new fan of American football, I was honoured last year to meet former NFL Quarterback, Don McPherson, at an award ceremony to recognise his inspiring work to educate boys about sexual and domestic violence.

The UK Government has been active on the international stage as well as domestically. The Girl Summit in London last year brought together governments, practitioners and community representatives to commit to ending female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage within a generation. And nine months ago, Angelina Jolie and my former Foreign Secretary, William Hague, brought thousands of people together to call on world leaders to end sexual violence in conflict. More on all of that in my next blog!

It’s not just the UK’s public sector that is striving to encourage and support more women in its workforce; British businesses are too, and exporting the concept. For example, the 30% Club is a voluntary group of companies committed to getting 30% women on FTSE-100 boards by the end of this year. Since its launch in the UK in 2010 they have doubled women’s presence in the boardroom and launched branches of the Club in the US, Ireland, Hong Kong and Southern Africa, with plans to continue to expand this model around the world this year.

My willingness to engage more visibly on these issues stems in part from the growing number of amazing men and women – like Emma Watson and Don McPherson – who are talking and taking action to address gender inequality. In my own travels around the US to talk about the UK’s global activism, I’ve met amazing people who work across this broad field. Of course, I’ve not even scratched the surface of the many thousands of largely unsung heroes and heroines in communities in every country. In recognition of International Women’s Day, I’d love to hear what you’re doing to shatter unhelpful stereotypes; prove the nay-sayers wrong; and support equality for men and women everywhere.