“Dare to be what you want to be”, the alliance that seeks to inspire girls in Colombia to choose professions free of stereotypes

Willing to promote the education of a new generation of women who dare every day to break gender stereotypes, to occupy leadership positions, to undertake and risk being part of the world of science, engineering and technology; ICBF, in partnership with Unilever, seeks to inspire thousands of girls to build their projects in through the donation of a thousand copies of the book “Girls and Professions: Dare to be what you want to be”, by the Colombian writer Valentina Lira.

The book tells the story of Ana, a girl who likes dolls, but also dinosaurs, and decides to go on an adventure through the different professions, to find what she wants to be. In your search, you will encounter female engineers, scientists, presidents, youtubers, football players, programmers, entrepreneurs, among others.

To officiate the delivery, an event was held in Cali led by the ICBF, where more than 50 Vallecaucano girls between the ages of 6 and 13 participated. Beatrice López, ICBF's Director of Children, explained that “alliances such as these confirm the importance of co-responsible work between the private and public sectors to promote the life projects of girls and boys, free of gender stereotypes, so that they transform their realities and those of their territories.”

As part of this event, the girls interacted with seven women from STEM professions — an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — who work at Unilever and who currently hold leadership positions within the organization, such as Liliana Torijano who is a chemist and director of the Unilever plant in Palmira and Milagros Sanjuan who is a microbiologist and Quality Manager.

In addition, they were able to meet the author of the book Valentina Lira, CEO of the Kolibix Publishing House, and held a robotics workshop with Helena Valencia, woman CAFAM Chocó 2022, Gender Coordinator of the School of Robotics in her department.

“At Unilever we believe that gender equity is a universal principle that seeks women, men, girls and boys to enjoy the same opportunities and rights, without being determined by gender, so we are committed to this cause, understanding that education is the main key on this path, as well as ongoing support for programs that allow women to gain leadership roles,” said Marcela Chaves, Director of Unilever's Food Business, in statements to INFOBAE Colombia.

With this partnership, ICBF seeks to eliminate stereotypes to create a more equitable and inclusive world. The entity highlighted that the alliance seeks to highlight that women who work in different tasks from forklifts, engineers, chemists, to plant managers, are an example to continue challenging gender norms inside and outside their business.

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