2024 wrapped: a message from our founder
The Female Lead founder Edwina Dunn shares her highlight of the year and plans for 2025.
By Edwina Dunn, OBE, Founder of The Female Lead
A moment I’ll remember from this year was watching scores of pregnant women pose in the beautiful Lindley Hall in London on a hot day in September.
Our brilliant photographer Sane Seven was photographing them for our From Labour Ward to Labour Force campaign, which is calling for more support for mothers when they go back to work after our survey of 8,000 mothers revealed what they need - and how it’s a business win to give it to them.
It has had a social reach of 4.4 million so far, and was seen by over a million people on billboards around the UK.
Our photoshoot stars (most in their second and third trimester) were volunteers who gave up their time, despite the heat and their growing bodies, after a callout on our social media accounts.
That they would do this for us was both humbling and a demonstration of the goodwill we feel from our audience - now 8.7 million of you - every day.
If you don’t know me, I’m Edwina Dunn, a data entrepreneur and the proud founder of The Female Lead, which I started in 2015 to make women’s success stories more visible and offer girls a wider selection of role models.
As 2024 draws to a close, I want to give my heartfelt thanks for your support over these last 12 months.
The last year has been the latest in a period of global uncertainty and rising costs. We know that for women running small businesses, the pressure has never been higher.
The cost of living means it’s crucial that women understand money and invest in themselves, while the pension gap means that more than two million women in the UK - that’s two in five - will not be able to retire. This has to change.
So next year, we’ll continue our focus on demonstrating the economic value of women, and spotlighting practical solutions based on their real experiences. Health will also be a focus, as we know that women spend much of their time caring for others, yet taking time to maintain our own health is a way of future-proofing ourselves and our families in old age.
We’ve seen the impact of our work this year and can’t wait to get started on the next.
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Wishing you and your loved-ones a healthy and happy 2025.
Edwina Dunn
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Can I just ask why it’s a man’s voice reading this fabulous story?? Is it just my settings?? The irony is too much. Thank you Female Lead and Edwina for an epic year. Looking forward to 2025 big time.