As I stare at our list of Innoventures participants, I see one thing glaring back at me – the lack of women in the program. From my end, I chased the women down; I personally reached out to some and asked for their participation. In March, when we launched the program, the overwhelming entries from men across Softtek departments both energized our mission and formed the backbone for our existence. However, going forward, this can be a platform to encourage more female Softtekians to embrace entrepreneurship.
Blanca Trevino, Softtek’s CEO, is an inspiration to women beyond the LatAm region. She is fierce, determined, entrepreneurial, and above all, a strong leader. Naturally, I had expected the women of Softtek to be more eager and adventurous in their pursuit to chasing the next big thing. My finding, of course, has been contrary.
The value of diversity cannot be underestimated or over emphasized. However, driving diversity forcefully, I am not sure what kind of results I could expect. My personal thinking is that this will be a slow process. Some of my colleagues here have said that entrepreneurship is not inherent in the Mexican upbringing in general. While the boys are still encouraged to think and step outside the box, the women are directed towards conformist behavior. This is purely hearsay on my part, and I know that changing underlying behavior, while very important, is also very difficult.
I don’t know or claim to know why it is the way it is. I am simply interested in making the Innoventures program more constitutionally diverse. What next? During my year and a half at Softtek, I have had the pleasure of meeting dynamic and brilliant women at Softtek. We will continue with the soft messaging, encouraging more women to join the fun. We will actively driving training sessions that directly engage and attract women. We will perhaps also create a community of women entrepreneurs within Softtek. I am not sure whether that’s enough. Here’s where we are open to hearing from you.
