Better with Etta

There's a feeling that we're on the right road when it comes to gender diversity in business, especially when you look back through the decades. However, there is so much more to be done, and the hard-fought wins still need to be defended.

That’s why when Etta Cohen stepped down from her role at the head of Forward Ladies, the women’s business networking organisation, it was inevitable that she would in some ways still be involved in this battle for greater diversity.

Ms Cohen handed over the reins of Forward Ladies 18 months ago to Griselda Togobo. Despite giving up her cherished baby, she continues to fight for what she believed in: equality.

“I would just like to see a time when there is actually probably no need for a Forward Ladies as such – when we do have the level playing field,” she says. “Where if women want to progress, be it in a company or in growing their own business, then there are no barriers.

“Interestingly enough, I have spoken to some people who feel things in some areas are actually getting worse not better. That’s scary.”

Ms Cohen started off life as a schoolteacher in inner-city Leeds. Disillusioned with the education system, she left the profession.

“I met so many young people who had so much talent and yet they were going to drop through the net,” she says.

She also served as a magistrate for 15 years and went through a divorce, bringing up two children on her own.

Ms Cohen eventually found herself in a business development role at the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward. This is where she launched Forward Ladies and spun out with the organisation when Yorkshire Forward decided to make it self-financing.

Forward Ladies went onto become a prominent organisation championing women’s issues.

“As we grew we actually had a voice that could influence because I sat on many groups and consultations in London and we took the ladies to Westminster several times,” she says.

“We had senior politicians come to speak at the events held at Westminster and we got a lot of publicity promoting what we were doing. I think it gave women self-belief and confidence.”

The financial directors of Tesco and Asda, leading politicians such as Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa May are just a few of those who have held court at Forward Ladies events.

The key to this organisation’s success though was its relaxed approach to business networking. In fact, the idea for Forward Ladies was conceived over an informal lunch that Ms Cohen had with a female bank manager.

These days, as well as being an ambassador for Forward Ladies, Ms Cohen is also a board member of the Yorkshire Asian Business Association (YABA). She believes that women from all cultures have a role to play in building the region’s future prosperity. “We have to recognise that this region is so wealthy because it’s made up of such tremendous cultures and within those cultures we have so much strength. We have to understand the women in those cultures.”