While we’re thrilled to see an increase in the number of women in positions of corporate leadership, the needle isn’t moving fast enough. We’ve done a great job in recent years focusing on women’s empowerment through initiatives like mentorship and diversity training, but we haven’t yet tackled the structural barriers that disproportionately disadvantage women in the workplace. Our one-size-fits-all, 9-5 workday is a relic of the past, one that pushes women off the corporate leadership track or out of the workforce completely in a forced choice between care and career. Of the 30% of women who leave the workforce, 70% say they would have stayed if they had access to flexibility. If we can help facilitate work-life compatibility through structured flexibility policies while continuing to focus on women’s empowerment, we can increase the number of women in leadership and rapidly accelerate the advancement of corporate gender equality.

–	Anna Auerbach, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Werk