Bangalore leads in Diversity and Inclusion

I was at a CISCO Diversity and Inclusion Event today . Great panel , excellent breakout sessions, I loved it . IT companies are aggressively and seamlessly carrying in Global Gender Diversity practices, and are increasingly becoming employers of choice for many smart women. Some of the panelists from Dell, Infosys, CISCO, Motorola and IBM were upfront and matter of fact about their company perspective , their own take on the subject , and as importantly its impact on the India of today . Ranjani ranganathan , the effervescent Sr MD of CISCO had some probing questions for the panelists, which got everyone in the audience thinking .
Some of the systems in place in companies like this ( as well as Motorola, Intel, Accenture et al - all Bangalore headquartered, by the way ) like for Mentoring, Leadership, Networking and Growth are truly excellent .
And they truly believe.
The top management truly believes.
I see happy endings. I see awareness . I see it work.
A bit far fetched , all this , and will it really work , said one cynical media person to me . Why not , I said . Things have changed . Its based on the realities of business as usual , certainly not in order to patronise or placate token women in the workforce.

That aside, the business pressures on other companies in India , created by strong organisations like this and India's booming economy is going to result in a far more open ended opportunities for Women, and a seismic shift in perspectives . The bar is being raised , and all women will benefit , as will eventually , the economy . And Bangalore with its plethora of Global IT and Off shoring companies is leading the charge .
I am delighted , I truly think this is fantastic. More power to their elbow . I am rooting for them.

Bangalore , take a bow.

I think there is going to be tremendous scope for the Womens Business Council (WBC) at the Indo America Chamber of Commerce (IACC) if we just get these wonderful heads together - why reinvent the wheel ?