A letter from our founder: Welcome to the ladder club!
Welcome to the ladder club!
Growing up in rural Lincolnshire, I was often in environments where no one looked like me. I spent my time explaining my culture, why I travelled over an hour to get my hair done, and why my mum always made me moisturise when my friends didn’t have to (!!)
Moving into the corporate world, I quickly noticed both the lack of Black women in leadership roles and the limited support available to Black women sitting between early careers and senior leadership.
Being a Black woman in business often means having your competence questioned, speaking louder than everyone else in the room to be heard (only to be mistaken as being aggressive) and having to work twice as hard, just to be seen on par. It’s being paid 26% less than your white male counterparts for the same role at the same company.
For those of us who do become leaders, the pressure to pull the ladder up after us is immense. We’re made to feel like there can only be one Black woman in the room - the successful Black woman, the palatable Black woman, the only Black woman.
The token Black woman.
Despite 59% Black women leaders dreaming of being top executives, currently there are no Black women FTSE 100 CEOs. The ladder club is here to change that.
We are a community for Black women navigating the journey to senior leadership. Within our first week of launch we gained over 100 sign ups, spanning all career levels, across ~ 30 industries!
The ladder club has one goal - to increase representation of Black women in senior leadership roles through the power of connection.
Together we will #KeepTheLadderDown
Liseli x
If you would like to join us on our journey, sign up as member here or email me at liseli@theladderclub.co.uk
The Ladder Club Founder - Liseli Sumbwanyambe