BBC 100 Women challenge launches in Silicon Valley
The BBC 100 Women Challenge 2017 goes live from Silicon Valley in California next week, as a team of female experts come together to find a way to smash the glass ceiling in a unique celebration of female talent.
Published: 25 September 2017
Starting on Monday 2 October, BBC 100 Women Challenge: Change Is Coming draws on the experience of women across all spheres of modern life - from engineering to the creative industries, from sport to business - as teams based around the world tackle everyday problems currently blighting female lives.
For the first challenge of four, Silicon Valley - the home of tech - has been chosen to lead the charge. 100 Women has assembled an all-female team of experts and campaigners, who will work with women in the tech industry who have faced gender discrimination in their daily working lives. The team will then have a working week (October 2-6) to invent, develop and deliver a prototype that tackles the issue, whether a tech solution, product or campaign.
Their solutions will be shared with an invited audience at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley and with the BBC’s global audience via BBC World Service Radio’s Outside Source programme on Friday 6 October from 3.30pm GMT. There will also be live reports in to BBC World News TV.
The team will include Harvard social psychologist and bestselling author Amy Cuddy, Lori Nishiura Mackenzie Executive Director of the Clayman Institute at Stanford University and Co-Founder and CEO of On Second Thought Maci Peterson.
As part of their challenge, some of the experts will take part in one-hour discussion show on women in the workplace, presented by the BBC’s Nuala McGovern. It will be broadcast live on BBC World Service Radio from the Silicon Valley home of digital media company OZY Media on Tuesday 3 October at 4pm GMT. They will also be followed by a BBC World News TV documentary team as they work on their solution (to be broadcast in November) while OZY.com will be profiling the women involved.
The team’s progress during the week will be shared on the BBC’s digital platforms including www.bbc.com/100women which will also play host to a wealth of video and written content exploring the glass ceiling. These range from body language tips and how to change pathways in the brain to increase confidence to exploring mansplaining and hearing from a scientist who has transitioned from male to female about the different attitudes she now experiences at work.
Audience participation will be a cornerstone of the BBC 100 Women Challenge. The team will want to hear directly from the BBC’s audiences around the world, particularly women affected by the issues they are tackling and anyone who is already seeking solutions. People will be able to get involved in the challenge via social media with @BBC100Women and #100Women, online at www.bbc.com/100women and through the live shows.
The other BBC 100 Women Challenge teams will be in Delhi (October 9-13) where a group will tackle female illiteracy; in London where women will try to improve safety for female travellers using public transport (October 16-21); and finally for the fourth week a team in Rio de Janeiro will take on sexism in sport (October 23-28).
BBC 100 Women was established in 2013 as an annual series focused on a list of 100 inspirational women. The list was supported by news, features, investigations and interviews highlighting the work of these women, targeting female audiences. In 2016 100 Women site generated 30 million hits over three weeks and was awarded an Alliance for Women in Media Gracie award. The project was also a finalist for the US Peabody Awards 2017 and scooped many other accolades.
HD
