By Nayeli Alonzo
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Women from business, politics, nonprofits and academia gathered on Towson University’s campus Thursday for a discussion about motherhood, leadership, workplace adversity and other issues.
The event, which was organized for Women’s History Month, was the fourth annual soirée put on by Monument Women’s Creative Alliance, a Baltimore-based organization whose mission is to empower women.
This year’s theme was “Give to Gain” and it featured a panel discussion as well as a space for business owners and vendors to come together and learn from each other.
“We gather at one of the most important times in our history,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge and one of four women on the panel. “International Women’s Day is about more than celebration; it is about power—how to use it, how to share it, and how to ensure that the next generation of girls inherits a country and a world that is more just, more compassionate, and more resilient than the one we were handed.”
The organization’s founders, Rachel McFadden and Hazel Geary, donated a portion of the proceeds from the event to the Marian House, an organization helping women achieve stable lives.
“This is a labor of love,” Geary said about organizing the soirée.
Vignarajah, who ran for governor in Maryland in 2018, told the audience that men and women are frequently treated differently when it comes to child rearing. For example, three months after she had given birth, Vignarajah said, she brought her children to work, only to find that she was looked down upon. When her husband, who is also a CEO, did the same, she said, he was praised for being a great father.
“Women can be empowered in meaningful, lasting ways, and financial empowerment is one of the most transformative tools we have,” Vignarajah said.
Taylor Carter, the founder of “The Social Seed” project who was a vendor at the event, shared similar feelings.
“What we are feeling and doing in this moment doesn’t just end with us and gets passed on to the next generation,” Carter said.
The event allowed powerful women to celebrate one another and the progress women have made in the workforce while also confronting the challenges that remain.
“When we invest in one another, we expand what’s possible for all of us,” Vignarajah said, a sentiment that was echoed throughout the night.
This point resonated with many women who attended, and it opened the room up to topics of what is expected of women.
Dr. Arti Santhanam, a panel member and strategic advisor at Applied Neurons LLC, said the concept of giving comes naturally to women.
“We are givers at heart,” Santhanam said. “We give a lot; we give our families to our communities to our friends. One of the things we forget to do is give to ourselves.”
Yet women in various fields continue to be overlooked and undervalued, panel members said.
“Statistically, it is still easier to find a CEO named John than a CEO who is a woman,” Vignarajah said.
The room seemed to create a comforting and empowering space for the women who attended, many of whom shared stories of exclusion and being undermined in the office.
Alongside the speeches and conversations, the event featured 20 local women-owned businesses that promoted merchandise.
Airen Washington, a panelist and owner of Airen Washington Creative LLC, said,”I would always look for what banks had female CEOs, because it was a different care and a different level of detail than I would see from them.”
Many of the women expressed the gratitude they felt for the connections they made at the event. Whether those connections related to being a mother or daughter, or just navigating first-generation identities, those interviewed said the support they received from one another was meaningful for them.
“Every woman that I know advocates for other women,” said panel member Smitha Gopal, the chief operating officer at EcoMap Technologies, Inc. “We all mentor, whether it’s formally or informally. We all try to share resumes of our friends. We pass on opportunities, and we are naturally nurturing and giving. And it’s not enough because the systems that exist are broken and are not designed for us.”
Washington told the audience that her bank, Industrial Bank, has an eight-week justice-exposed empowerment program designed to help incarcerated men and women gain financial literacy, so they can open a bank account and talk about owning a home.
Once they’re released, the bank hosts a graduation ceremony. Washington said it’s emotional work that makes her admire the bank and what motivates her to continue doing the work she does.
The women last night, proud of what they have accomplished, also shared the same frustrations.
“There is a systemic unwillingness to give us parity,” Arti said. “There is enough money available to give us parity; why isn’t that happening?”
To illustrate how women are often left out of important workplace discussions, Santhanam shared a moment in which male colleagues finished a meeting before the set time and left for lunch early without ever notifying her.
She’s said this type of scenario has occurred multiple times, adding that even women who are CEOs will experience these slights.
“There is a loneliness in women CEOs when it comes to that because you do not have that network of support,” Santhanam said. “That’s something that we don’t talk about enough.”
“We can’t just live in the shadows; we’re here,” said Karen Barbour, an attendee of the event and president of the Barbour Group LLC. “Aren’t we here to pull each other out of the shadows tonight? Aren’t we here to say we’re better than where people put us?”
Geary said she was happy with the event.
“I’m looking around right now, and I see toffee, I see fashion, I see art, I see jewelry,” Geary said. “It’s amazing just to see the sentiment that these women are actually doing what they love, and they created their own path to these businesses from their passion.”
“For me and Rachel, it’s beautiful to see that come to life, and we’re happy to support them,” Geary added.
Erin Moran, the inaugural executive director of the Dr. Nancy Grasmick Leadership Institute, said the event was empowering.
“When women thrive, we all rise,” Moran said.