Ladies*, Wine** & Design is a global non-profit initiative with chapters in 280 cities worldwide. LW&D was founded in 2015 by Jessica Walsh after this happened. Only .1% of creative agencies are founded by women & non-binary people, and the numbers are even smaller for women/non-binary BIPOC. Our mission is to see more diversity in the creative industry, especially within leadership roles. LW&D takes an intersectional approach to this work. We offer free mentorship circles, portfolio reviews, talks & creative meetups for underrepresented creatives.
*Our space is inclusive of all women, non-binary, agender and gender non-conforming people. Self-definition is at the sole discretion of that individual. If you feel you could benefit from a space meant for people who do not identify as cis men to share ideas and collaborate, you are welcome. **Alcohol is entirely optional; you can drink tea, coffee, or whatever you like!
Oct 17th | “AUTHENTIC SOUL SPA EXPERIENCE”: LW&D Jakarta is excited to announce their first virtual mini workshop via ZOOM on Saturday, 17 Oct 2020 from 3pm – 5pm. The SOUL SPA experience consists of two sessions, tailored for your mind and soul: Sess.01 – Self Care & Self Love with Muara Makarim and Sess.02 – Reflective Story by Rasa Tenang. RSVP
Oct 17th | “FROM VERMOUTH TO STUDIO”: Join LW&D Moscow for cocktails, conversations, stories in a cozy bar in the center of Moscow on the 17th of October at 19:00. Discuss how to lift from freelancing to a higher level and dream about starting your own business. Maybe it is lucky to have an opportunity to find wonderful like-minded girls there. RSVP
Oct 17th | “SLASH GENERATION”: Who are you? How do you define yourself? Want to break away from the traditional career path? LW&D Shanghai & Lululemon is hosting a super inspired offline event about Slash Generation! Hear from 4 awesome guests sharing the slashers’ life. To join, scan QR code and RSVP in LW&D Shanghai’s official Wechat account! RSVP
Oct 21st | “F*CK BEING HUMBLE”: Self-promotion. Something we should all do more of, yet it’s not always easy to overcome the fear of putting yourself out there in front of the world. Join LW&D Amsterdam for an interactive webinar with “F*ck Being Humble” author, Stefanie Sword-Williams. Stefanie will teach us tricks on overcoming fears of self promotion, communicate your achievements, utilise your online platforms and capture what makes you distinctly different. RSVP
Oct 21st | “RAISING AWARENESS THROUGH ART”: Are you thinking of starting a social project? How you can use it to raise public awareness and to make a living from it? In LW&D Athens’ first meetup of autumn, Sylvia Kouveli, on World Breast Cancer Day, will present the project @boobs4prevention and will talk about awareness through art, the importance of collaboration and the search for balance between the self-funded initiative vs. artistic and social satisfaction. RSVP
Oct 21st | “CREATING A BUSINESS AND BRAND FROM SCRATCH”: Have you ever wanted to start and brand your own business? LW&D Denver invites you to join them in a panel discussion with two talented businesswomen who can walk you through the inception of a business, building a brand, and maintaining an engaged audience. Esther Lee Leach of Cherry Creek Fashion Magazine and Stacy Taubman of RISE Collaborative will be speaking at this month’s in-person event. RSVP
Oct 21st | “OH, HELLO THERE”: LW&D Midcities’s first (virtual) salon night. This is the kickoff event of the new LW&D MidCities chapter. Since it’s been such a yucky year, we will spend the evening chatting about what feeds our souls and keeps us super mega excited for the future ahead. What projects are you working on? What do you need help with? Let’s build our creative community! RSVP
Oct 21st | “GET OUT THE VOTE: Creative Approaches to Expanding Voter Engagement in 2020.” Wonder how creatives use design to make a difference? Looking for ways to have an impact in this year’s election? Then join LW&D San Francisco‘s latest event welcoming leaders from the nonprofit @votefromhome20 and award-winning ad agency @DuncanChannon. Learn about grassroots efforts to enfranchise at-risk voters and how to design for social impact campaign. RSVP
Oct 27th | “NASHXBKLYN FAST CHATS”: LW&D Nashville X LW&D Brooklyn are thrilled to announce their next virtual event on October 27th (5-7pm CST/6-8pm EST) during @nashvilledesignweek to bring you one of their most popular events “Fast Chats”. Meet some amazing female leaders from across the country and perhaps make a friend or two. And while you are at it explore the rest of the event line up at Nashvilledesignweek.org. RSVP
LW&D takes an intersectional approach to feminism, recognizing the complicated experiences of individuals based on the varying intersections of privilege and oppression. Feminism can not only champion the equality of white, cisgender, straight women. Feminism must be inclusive of all people, championing equality for everyone, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, race, nationality, age, or ability.
Intersectional feminism is imperative as we push for equality for women, non-binary, trans & BIPOC creatives in the creative field. We must adopt an intersectional lens as we battle discrimination in the creative industry. So, what does this mean? We must take into account people’s varying experiences, such as someone who is both a woman and a woman of color. Watch this ted talk talk by Kimberlé Crenshaw for more context.
Ladies, Wine & Design was founded in 2015 with the mission to fight for equality for all in the design industry. We do this by: 1. Hosting free events for underrepresented creatives 2. Amplifying the work & voices of underrepresented creatives through web & social media features and interviews 3. Free mentorship for underrepresented creatives 4. Connecting underrepresented creatives together to share resources, knowledge, connections, inspiration & advice.
If you would like to be paired with a mentor, please email us. If you’re in the creative industry and can offer your mentorship or guidance, do contact us to get involved.
With COVID-19, we’ve started doing mentorships digitally over video chat. If you’re an underrepresented creative looking for a mentor, please email us with the title “I want to find a mentor – Your Name Here” to info@ladieswinedesign.com. If you’re able to mentor others, email us with the title “I’d like to be a mentor – Your Name Here” to info@ladieswinedesign.com.
There are many reasons for the lack of diversity in leadership roles historically:
Sexism & Racism in the Workplace
There are studies that show that companies are often consciously or unconsciously biased in favor of candidates who are cis white men, which leads them to be hired, getting raises, and receiving promotions. While this is changing, there is still a pay gap today between candidates who hold the same job titles. Women & non-binary people of all racial and ethnic groups earn less than white men, and studies show there is an even larger wage gap for BIPOC. If you’re in a leadership role, be cognizant of this bias and make sure raises and promotions are given out based on merit.
Lack of Diversity in Mentors & Idols Historically
Open a design history book, and you’ll see that almost all the famous designers mentioned are white men. The design industry used to be a boys club at the top, lacking diversity across both gender and race. With a lack of representation among their role models, underrepresented people can be deterred from pursuing creative positions. Thanks to the pioneering activists and feminists before us, this has been changing and many of our favorite designers working today are other women and non-binary creatives! But, there is still a lot of work to do. Intersectional feminism is imperative as we push for equality for all people in the creative field. We must adopt an intersectional lens as we battle discrimination in the creative industry. So, what does this mean? We must take into account people’s varying experiences, such as someone who is both a woman and a woman of color. In order to have equality and representation of all women and non-binary people in the creative field, we can champion and celebrate the successes of one another, offering guidance and mentorship to underrepresented creatives starting out in their careers. If you’re in the creative industry and can offer your mentorship or guidance, do contact us to get involved.
The responsibility of childbearing
Many people start families and have children around the age when they are furthering their education or entering the labor force. Historically, most cisgender men continued working and did not hold child-bearing responsibilities, leading to a gender imbalance in terms of career success. Many call this the “motherhood tax,” referring to the financial burdens and sacrifices involved in motherhood.
Trans and non-binary people in the workplace
Discrimination and prejudice against non-binary people is a form of sexism that happens in the workplace across all industries. This discrimination affects every aspect of both a person’s working and personal life. Studies show that nearly 60% of transgender people report having experienced employment discrimination, including being fired, denied a promotion or harassed. It is imperative that we make a conscious effort for equality of all people in the workplace, respecting and accepting everyone for who they are. Trans and non-binary people have the right to be able to live, dress and have their gender respected at work.
While the numbers are staggering simple things can change them:
Promote Your Peers
In studies, successful women and non-binary people are shown to receive more backlash compared to successful men. Root for one another and celebrate each other’s successes instead of tearing each other down. We can all help in various ways, big or small. Share your favorite designers on your social media, invite more underrepresented voices to your design conferences, make sure there is diversity in books on design, and so on.
Leadership at Companies
As a leader, make sure underrepresented creatives are considered for promotions, receive feedback to get to higher positions, and create action plans that help build leadership skills. Do not penalize or discredit people for needing work-life balance and flexibility.
Support Women & Non-Binary People in the Workplace
Be supportive of all people in your workspace. Use gender-neutral language in the workplace ask and use peoples correct pronouns. In addition, women and non-binary voices are often not heard or their ideas get lost in meetings. Make sure they have their physical spot in conversations, not getting elbowed out by others. If someone interrupts them, be direct and ask the interrupter to wait for their turn to speak. If you see someone’s ideas are immediately getting unfairly shut down, repeat, reference, and credit that idea over and over. This technique is called amplification and we owe this to Obama’s administration.
Mentor Women & Non-Binary Creatives
If you’ve found success as a creative, take the time to mentor others who are starting out in their careers.
Don’t Tolerate Sexism, Racism, or Homophobia
Do not normalize forms of sexism by accepting mansplaining, manterrupting, gaslighting or bropriating. If you see racist/sexist/homophobic behavior in public or at home, speak up against it. If you see this behavior online, you can report the behavior or language. To stop sexist and racist behavior, we must adopt a zero tolerance policy.
Resources on combating racism: Everyday Feminism, Amnesty International, Ted
Resources on combating sexism: HuffPost, Elle, NPR Podcast Directory, Girl Scouts
Resources on combating homophobia: Human Rights Campaign, The Washington Post, The Guardian
Women earn less than men in 439 of 446 major U.S. occupations. The average for men is $55,835 and $43,845 for women. As designers, women earn 79% of their counterparts who are men, and this number is even lower for women of color. The most effective way to change the pay gap in the industry is hiring women and non-binary people, paying attention to their results and efforts, and rewarding them equally. It sounds simple, but we are not always aware of how much unconscious misogyny we might have. This means constantly questioning ourselves and making equality a central topic in our lives.
Studies show that after transitioning, transgender women’s earnings fall by nearly one-third. This finding echoes the lower value placed on women in the workplace. The trans and non-binary communities experience poverty at 4x the rate of the general population. Studies and conversations about the gender pay gap need to be more inclusive, rather than just about comparisons between cisgender men and women. Most corporations do not recognize people’s genders outside of male and female, and for this reason, there are very few studies on wage discrepancy for non-binary people, and this needs to change.
Sexual harassment is still a major problem. 75% of those who experience sexism do not report it because of embarrassment or feeling like it could jeopardize a promotion or even lead to being fired. But even when they do report it, little is done. More than half of the official allegations of sexual harassments result in no charge. Motherhood also plays a big role in the industry, as women with children have less of a chance of being hired.
Most people won’t deliberately identify themselves as misogynistic, racist, or homophobic. However, there’s something called unconscious bias, which is the unconscious discrimination of certain groups of people: from race to religion to sexual orientation. This can manifest in different ways, whether it’s resisting to trust the choices of a woman or non-binary person or responding differently to a person of a different color than you. We can do this without consciously realizing it. It is our duty to stay open-minded to our own human defects, and continuously take a critical look at our own behaviors and privileges.
Examples of privileges include being white, cisgender, college educated, physically or mentally healthy, or financially stable. Why does this matter? Privilege can affect everything from how someone is treated in society on a daily basis to what basic human resources a person has access to. If you have privileges, you can use them to help fight for equality of more marginalized, less privileged people.
Our NYC-based events are free to allow access to all people regardless of financial backgrounds. Occasionally, some of our other chapters charge a small fee to cover the hard costs of their events (speakers, space, etc).
There are many ways you can support us!
Join Your Local Chapter
We have a map on our homepage — check it out to see if you have a local LWD chapter in your city. If you do, make sure to attend an event and ask the hosts if you can assist them in any way!
Start a Local Chapter
If your city doesn’t have a local chapter and you want to be a host, email us at info@ladieswinedesign.com and we’ll get you started!
Accessibility At All Events
At our NYC events, we make sure that all our venues are accessible, and we encourage all chapters to do the same! If you are hosting an event, make sure to use this checklist to make sure your event is accessible and that you have accessibility information listed for upcoming events
Sponsorships
If you have space you can offer up in your city for events or can provide free wine or food for one of our events, do contact us about sponsorships! We’re happy to give social media love in exchange for your support. Before now, we’ve taken no financial donations and this project has been entirely self-funded. Currently, &Walsh is the sole financial sponsor of LW&D, but we’ll be looking for additional sponsorship this year. We’d love a corporate sponsor to help with larger events to help us hire staff to keep the organization running. The organization will never be for-profit, this money will be used entirely on our events & staff. Email us at info@ladieswinedesign.com if you’d like to discuss sponsorships.
Follow Us
You can also follow us on Instagram and follow all the amazing creatives we feature. Championing other women and non-binary creatives is one of the best ways to support Ladies, Wine & Design, so one day we don’t need to exist.
Want to sponsor LW&D? Help bring equality to the creative industry by supporting women, non-binary and underepresented creatives all over the world. Write us!
