Community Impact LAB Brings 50/50 Day to San Leandro

Jessica Stark, Women's Empowerment Projects Manager

In looking for ways to continue the momentum focused on women’s empowerment, Community Impact LAB was thrilled to bring 50/50 Day to San Leandro.  Let It Ripple Film Studio and Director Tiffany Shlain produced “50/50: Rethinking the Past, Present, and Future of Women + Power” and developed a platform to share its message and engage individuals and communities in a global discussion on gender parity.
The May 10th 50/50 Day event spanned across the U.S. and the world with over 11,000 events. Two of the key themes contemplated in the film were: “Where are we really on the greater arc of history of women and power?” And “What’s it going to take to get to a 50-50 world, not just in politics and board rooms, but truly shifting the gender balance to true equality for women.”

My name is Jessica Stark, and I recently become more engaged with Community Impact LAB and its vision of creating a world where women and their abilities are valued and where families are supported to act as a force for positive social change.  
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This film was a call to change the narrative, from scarcity to abundance, to call out and recognize the strong, powerful and inspiring women that are around us in our communities and globally. Those who attended reinforced this image, with their bright, bold, intelligent and engaging post-film discussion. I was truly honored to help facilitate and grateful to be apart of an organization that fosters this and a community that supports it.
The most powerful quote to me from the film is from Laura Liswood, who is the Secretary General of Women World Leaders, when she describes change in terms of a standing ovation. That initially it is only a few people who stand and clap, and little by little the audience rises.  It reminds me, it only takes a few to start a movement of change, but eventually we will have the whole crowd up on their feet.

Overall, I came away from this event renewed, inspired and in acknowledgment of how important witnessing and recognizing women empowering women is to ensure that the supportive trend and narrative continues. Community Impact LAB has been an example to me of how empowering women produces results and builds a stronger community. Xouhoa Bowen started this organization with the purpose of helping women and families. Through her engagement and leadership, she’s gathered a group of extraordinary women that make-up the organization’s board and manage initiatives focused on empowering women to live, give, and grow to their fullest potentials. With each social good, learning, and family lab project, the ripples of support and change extend beyond those directly impacted. The more we can pull each other up, mentor and support each other, the more successful we all will be.

I look forward  to being able to help coordinate and participate in more events that recognize, celebrate and support women and families in this community.
A large thanks goes out to Let It Ripple Film Studio for making this film and this day possible, to FilmHero for being our liaison and ambassador for this project, to Pilot City for providing the space to host and to the San Leandro Women Entrepreneurs and all the inspiring women who joined us to make this event a powerful catalyst for change.