Tuesday 17th January was the first session of our local edition of the Voice & Influence program. This program, created by the Centre for the Advancement of Women’s Leadership at Stanford University, was designed to empower women and men to realise their professional potential and help them create organisations where workers can excel and thrive.

The program’s 11 modules each have a video and a discussion guide. The first module was about uncovering authentic leadership. We learned that covering is when someone has disclosed some identity, but mutes or tones down its significance. (Compare with passing, which is when someone hides possessing this identity.)

We had some thought-inspiring discussions about covering. Covering is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, it is natural that we bring different aspects of our identities to the forefront in different environments. Covering becomes problematic when we are expected to do it. So what’s the relation to voice and influence? Well, authenticity, not assimilation, is a path to leadership.

All postgraduate students and staff in the School of Mathematics and Information Security are welcome to these sessions, which will be held every two weeks.

The next session is on Tuesday 31st January, 4-5pm in Windsor 1-02. For more details, see our Voice & Influence poster.

Marie-Sarah Lacharite, PhD student.