Speaker: Holly Macintosh, Chief of Staff, 2k Games
Why is Women’s History Month important to you? How are you celebrating?
Holly Macintosh: Women's History Month is important to me because it's a time to reflect and remember just how far we've come as women, which to be honest is still an ongoing battle. This month particular I'll be supporting empowering and lifting up all the women around me to help find their voices put themselves first boost their confidence and that they continue to break the glass ceilings, biases and stereotypes which still exist in our day today. Historically we have seen limited numbers of gaming industry employees who identify as women. And that's incredibly disappointing because it translates to fewer women in leadership roles, fewer women in managerial positions and fewer women who are excluded from the decision making process and we need to do better. I'll be celebrating by surrounding myself with many of the women in my life who have shaped me throughout the years. Whether that's family members, colleagues, friends or allies. There will be bubbles, endless hugs and words of encouragement that they should never doubt themselves, never apologize and never gloss over their amazing contributions to this world. Someone that comes to mind is my sister. She made the choice to be a stay at home mom to ensure that other people aren't raising her kids. To welcome the children home to a warm house, prepared snacks and to listen to their stories from their day today at school. Someone to help with their homework, attend PTA meetings, complete the errands, make the dinner, field the questions, transport them to sporting activities and to be there to clean up the scrapes and the falls. Someone to walk the dog, bath time, wash their uniform, make their lunches and prepare them for bed with endless cuddles and kisses and words of encouragement. I'm constantly reminding my sister that she's not just a stay at home mom, but rather a CEO of her family of four. And I'm hopeful that one day society will recognize this role in official capacity. Because how she juggles raising the kids on top of running the household without any form of recognition or compensation, I'll never understand.
2022's International Women's Day theme is #BreakTheBias. Can you speak to biases we can work to break in our communities and/or workplaces?
Holly Macintosh: In terms of breaking biases within the communities, I would encourage all allies to ask questions and listen to understand. Depending on the communities and depending on who is leading decisions around communities, ensure you have equal representation of women participating in those decisions. Societies differ from country to country, and as someone based in Ireland, the CSO, which is the Central Statistics Office, confirmed that in 2021 only 22% of the members on board of directors in Ireland were female. So again, we need to do better.
What advice would you give to the next generation of women as they begin their careers?
Holly Macintosh: Here's the advice that I would give to women embarking on their new careers. Travel and explore cultures, ask questions and surround yourself with women who want to make a difference in this world. Find your career path once you've spoken to other female leaders and know that you can be anything. Stop apologizing, find your voice, lead with empathy, be kind, disrupt with good intentions and never let anyone undermine or exclude you. Be prepared to fail and learn from those mistakes rather than making excuses. And always, always stand up for other women.
