In our second Real Talk we talked about Gender Inequality in the creative industry. Because as we speak, the creative industry is not representative of the world we live in. Especially when we look at gender, there’s quite an obvious imbalance. We opened up the conversation with WOMEN Inc.'s Karlijn Straver, Heleen Hidskes, Jhelisa Tramaine, Arno Peperkoorn, Anne Stoof, Bas Welling & Danielle Jiskoot to talk about this gender inequality. This digital session was divided in 3 sections, streamed through one channel.

The Real Talk was kicked-off by Karlijn Straver. She is Project Manager at WOMEN Inc. and very committed to gender equality in the workplace. She works with employers all over the Netherlands to create more inclusive workplaces, where everyone can be themselves and have equal opportunities. Her activating talk pinpointed exactly what work needs to be done to fight gender inequality and she gave some interesting tips and tools to counteract the imbalance in the creative industry.

Next up was the Panel Discussion, moderated by Heleen Hidskens in which we brought the conversation about gender inequality to life with a inspiring group of people (Jhelisa Termaine, Danielle Jiskoot, Anne Stoof en Bas Welling). On the basis of a few statements, we talked for example about gender inequality in the creative industry, biases, parental leave and gender pronouns. he discussion provided us with plenty of perspectives and gave us insights on how to truly move forward together.

The second speaker was Arno Peperkoorn. His razor-sharp talk emphasised the seriousness of the situation. Arno talked about real life examples and gave useful tips, from his years of experience within his agency and recruitment world.

All proceeds of this event went to WOMEN Inc. Who strive for a world with equal opportunities for everybody, regardless of your gender or sex.

Jhelisa is freelance Social Psychologist and photographer and co-owns a studio. She also co-runs The New Normal, an organization which creates a safe space to discuss topics such as racism, identity and mental health. Her goal is to be part of the promotion of a deeply rooted diverse and inclusive world. She was part of our panel discussion.

She is founder of the Drag Agency. This is the first agency in the Benelux for drag talents. Her mission is to break through box-thinking and to create a safe environment for everyone to be fully themselves. Danielle often shares her personal journey from 'skirt suit’' to creative entrepreneur and is committed to sustainable and social themes. She was part of our panel discussion.

Anne is a Creative Talent who grew up in the Dutch bible belt. Growing up there meant that he always had to fight to be who he is. Now he uses poetry to claim his place in the world and make people realize what it is like to live outside of boxes. He is currently part of Poetry Lab at @meervaartstudio, where he is working on a book of poetry with other young people. He was part of our panel discussion.

Bas is Managing Director at WeFilm. Wefilm helps brands make more impact by effectively telling sincere stories. Over the years, he transformed Wefilm from a traditional production company into a creative agency for impact. Next to this, he is a regular guest at all Dutch talk shows and columnist at BNR News Radio and guest lecturer at WdkA, Dutch Film Academy, and Nijenrode University. He was part of our panel discussion.