Q&A with WOMAG Marketing & Communications Lead, Pranav Sethaputra

Hi Pranav, welcome to the WOMAG Executive Board as Marketing andCommunications Lead! What encouraged you to apply for this role in particular?

Thank you! I think it’s a combination of two elements - on the one hand I was confident I could help WOMAG grow because a core part of my work has always been sustainability communications, with the last four years being focused on the agriculture space; and on the other hand, I’m deeply passionate about amplifying the voices of women. The Marketing and Communications Lead role brings these two elements together in a very actionable way and, importantly, lets me support WOMAG and the women in the network without me – as a male ally – taking up too much “space”.

Were you involved with WOMAG in the past? What encouraged you to apply as a Board member as opposed to a volunteer?

I’ve been loosely supporting WOMAG for a while now, especially in the last year - but never as an official volunteer. I’ve attended many events, proof-read documents and sense-checked ideas for WOMAG volunteers and even moderated a WOMAG “Coffee Session” on how men can be better allies to women –but again, never in a formal volunteer role. I’ve avoided it because, as I’ve insinuated above, I’m conscious about taking on a role that was seen as driving WOMAG’s work rather than supporting it. I thought there was a risk of that happening if I volunteered before WOMAG had the clearly defined Committee roles it does now. When WOMAG formalized the Committee roles this year and the role of Marketing & Communications Lead opened, I jumped at the opportunity! This position is about amplifying women’s voices and not about setting the direction of WOMAG’s work. Am I being overly conscious of the optics? I don’t think so, but I’d be happy to have a conversation about this choice with anyone who wants to chat!

What is your "day job", and how do you think it will help you in your role as Marketing & Communications Lead with WOMAG?

I’m the Partnerships & Communications Lead for Grow Asia, an organization that supports sustainable and inclusive agricultural development in Southeast Asia by building partnerships between key public, private, farmer and civil society players in the region. About 50% of my role is managing our communications work, which encompasses everything from our social media to case studies, learning events to white papers, so there’s a very clear overlap with my role with WOMAG. The other 50% of my role is relationship management. This gives me a strong understanding of what opportunities and challenges are most salient for Grow Asia’s partners (i.e., the full spectrum of actors in Southeast Asia’s food system) and, quite critically, where commonalities exist. This really helps me develop and curate content that’s relevant to WOMAG’s diverse member-base.

You’re a man in an Executive position with WOMAG. Does that matter? 

I think it does – it signals that championing gender parity is not “just a women’s issue”. Changing sexist  systems and establishing a new, more equitable “normal” requires the involvement of all agents, including  (and maybe especially) men like me that benefit from it. Having said that, I think boundaries are important.  I see my role as being about helping WOMAG refine its narrative and amplify its impact, and not to dictate  its strategic direction.

According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap 2020 report, at current pace the  average time it will take for the gender gap to close in East Asia and the Pacific is a staggering 163  years. What change do you hope to see in the shorter term - let's say, within 10 years? 

Oh how much time do you have? I hope by the end of the decade that: companies will become much more  transparent about pay differentials between women and men; women (and women of colour) are equally  represented in leadership roles; men are equally involved in championing diversity and inclusion; we close  the literacy and education gap between women and men; maternity and paternity leave are universal and  shared; access to reproductive and menstrual health is universal and affordable, if not free; sexual  harassment and violence (including micro-aggressions that get passed off as “just a joke”) become a thing  of the past; and for goodness sake that we see the end of manels (all-male panels) everywhere!

Want to learn more about or connect with Pranav? You can find her LinkedIn profile here.