Leading Women Caitlin Figueiredo, Founder and CEO of Jasiri Australia on the importance of emerging leadership
This episode, Shadé Zahrai interviews Caitlin Figueiredo, Founder and CEO of Jasiri Australia. She is also an Australian Youth Development Index Expert Panelist of the Ministry of Youth and Sport, Board Member and Vice Chair of Australian Youth Affairs Coalition and Ambassador of Alannah and Madeline Foundation.
She was named Young Leader of the 100 Women of Influence in Australia, an Obama White House Changemaker and a Queens Young Leader.
Some of her other past roles include, Head of Technology and Data for the Australian Red Cross, Task Force Member for the UN Women, Representative to the UN Annual Youth Assembly, Australian Director for The Global Resolutions Project, Founder and State Director of World Vision ACT.
Valuable Discussion Points
(01:26) What is the story of Caitlin’s leadership journey and what is her experience of leadership at such a young age?
For Caitlin, leadership is not defined by age. She started pretty young, and that was mainly because of her grandparents and parents who taught her from a young age that leadership and supporting your community has to start from the time that one is young. So it's always been very natural for her to be a leader. When her family came to Australia from Kenya, a couple of years after the White Australia Policy ended, they found it really difficult in the beginning to fit in. They faced cultural prejudice and racial discrimination. When Caitlin was little, they learnt that the whole part of themselves was to give back to their community, to serve their community and to leave where they live better than they found it.
(04:10) What is Caitlin’s main program, Girls Takeover Parliament?
Jasiri Australia, the organisation founded by Caitlin, runs the Girls Takeover Parliament programme.
Essentially, it's an experiential education initiative to create pathways to politics for young women both across Australia and around the world. The whole purpose of Girls Takeover Parliament is to open the closed doors to young women everywhere so that they can be shapers of democracy, so that they can see that even though they're not represented, they can be and that's why Caitlin and Jasiri Australia partner young women with politicians. They’ve recently had one of their first alumni actually run for office. The program has young women who work in the most senior ministerial offices in the country. They also have alumni go on to create similar programmes in India. The programme aims to create the next generation of politicians and what Caitlin likes to say, creating the next generation of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
(09:14) Has Caitlin ever experienced imposter syndrome?
One example where she experienced imposter syndrome was when she had just won the Young
Leader category of the 100 Women of Influence in Australia. She had just turned twenty-one. She thought to herself that she had barely done anything in her life to win and deserve the award. She remembered just absolutely shaking, not having any courage, but she knew that she had to use that moment to overcome imposter syndrome.
(22:43) What does Caitlin’s mantra, everywhere is an opportunity, mean?
There are infinite possibilities in life and that it's up to us to not only find them, but to use it. So what I'd like to tell young women everywhere is that if they have an idea and people tell them no, just keep working until you get a yes. If you don't get that, yes, straight away, find a back door and persist because there is always a way to overcome a problem and make your idea become a reality.
Key Learnings
- For women who hold back from speaking up in meetings, from applying for roles to moving into politics, Caitlin’s advice is simple, to just do it, to just start. Don't wait until you think you have the finances or if you are at a certain age in life, if you see that you have the passion behind you and that you want to make a difference, then just do it.
- From the time we’re little, we live in a life of uncertainty. For example, when we are babies and we want to take our first steps, we fall over, and we keep stumbling until we walk until that just becomes natural. So I would say that to any woman who feels like they receive pressure, pushback or discrimination, it will be there but I know that you are not alone and that everything good always starts off with being a challenge but that challenge eventually becomes natural and persistence will turn it into your everyday reality.
- Caitlin added two tools to the Leadership Toolbox, one personal and one practical. The personal is going back to the Duchess of Sussex to breathe, to live in the moment when you are on this leadership journey the practical tip is about elevating and expanding impact, if you were in a position to do so, support other women around you, go back to service, go back to community.
Quotable Quotes
“Leadership is not defined by age.” – Caitlin Figueiredo
“I stumbled and fell. But I fell upwards.”– Caitlin Figueiredo
“It's often the individual who is cast aside. But when an individual joins the collective that is when you create waves of change and that is something I want to show and to champion women everywhere to go, actually, you have this power. Own it. Use it and that's how you can change the world.”– Caitlin Figueiredo
Important Resources and Links
If you would like to learn more about how CommBank is ensuring women are advancing their growth in business, visit https://www.commbank.com.au/women-in-focus.html.
Host of the Leading Women podcast, Shadé Zahrai helps women hack their careers to advance faster, overcome their limiting beliefs and confidently create the life they deserve. She is featured in Forbes, the New York Times, TED, Daily Mail and other media. If you’re interested in learning more about Shadé and the issues she’s currently discussing, visit https://www.shadezahrai.com
If you’re interested in connecting with Caitlin Figueiredo or viewing her professional portfolios and achievements, visit her LinkedIn via https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlinfigueiredo and her website https://www.caitlinfigueiredo.com/
The Leading Women podcast is produced by Nicole Hatherly, recorded at RadioHub Studios with post production by Cooper Silk and Iain Wilson.