Reimagining Inclusive Leadership: A Masterclass for Women in Technology
Date:
Building Inclusive Leadership for the Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) Sector
UN Women Philippines, through the Gender Action Lab (GAL), in partnership with the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), hosted a Masterclass on Inclusive Leadership on 17 October 2025 at the UN Women Philippines office in Mandaluyong City.
The half-day session brought together members of the IBPAP Women in Action @ IT-BPM (WIA) Elevate cohort and UN Women’s team for a meaningful and interactive learning experience. More than just a training, the masterclass created a space for women leaders to reflect on and reconnect with their purpose and potential as changemakers in the IT-BPM sector.
The session equipped leaders with practical tools to foster gender-responsive and inclusive practices in their workplaces. It also served as a reminder that inclusive leadership is a powerful force for innovation, resilience and equity.
This collaboration builds on UN Women’s ongoing efforts to promote the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and strengthen gender equality, diversity and inclusion within the Philippine IT-BPM industry.
The WEPs are a set of seven principles offering guidance to businesses on advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. These principles form the foundation of the WEPs Corporate Action Lab, a joint initiative by UN Women Philippines and IBPAP focused on Advancing Women’s Leadership in Tech.
The session, facilitated by UN Women Philippines and Management Strategies, Inc., emphasized that inclusive leadership is not only a moral responsibility but also a strategic advantage. Organizations that embrace inclusion tend to be more innovative, adaptive and equitable.
Framing Leadership Through a Gender Lens
Through the five-part framework — Reimagine, Recognize, Respect, Respond, Reflect — participants engaged in activities that encouraged them to challenge assumptions and reframe leadership as an inclusive and collective act.
The opening segment invited participants to reimagine what an inclusive world could look like — one where everyone is seen, heard and valued. They reflected on the difference between equality and equity, sharing personal insights about fairness, belonging and representation, grounding the day’s learning in lived experience.
Throughout the day, conversations were honest, insightful and, at times, deeply personal. Participants explored how inclusion can be reimagined in the workplace, sharing stories of bias, stereotypes and unequal access to opportunities that continue to challenge women’s advancement.
Breakout sessions allowed participants to use WEPs cards to assess their organizations’ current progress and identify enablers and barriers to gender equality across the seven Principles. These activities sparked rich discussions on unconscious bias and microaggressions — behaviours that often go unnoticed but can have lasting impacts on team dynamics and individual well-being.
Participants examined how microaggressions like interruptions or assumptions about capability can undermine confidence and inclusion, while sharing positive examples such as mentorship, recognition of invisible labour and allyship that foster fairness and empathy. These conversations underscored that inclusion relies not only on policies but also on everyday actions that create psychological safety. Reflecting on intersectionality and unconscious bias, the group examined how subtle behaviours shape team dynamics and considered ways to redesign systems and practices to support women from all backgrounds.
Reflecting and Committing to Action
The masterclass concluded with a reflection and commitment exercise in which participants outlined personal and organizational actions to advance inclusion. These ranged from mentoring future women leaders and strengthening gender-responsive policies to designing inclusive workspaces and embedding the WEPs across company systems. Many pledged to educate peers and teams to become active enablers of inclusion.
“Inclusion starts with self-awareness. You can’t lead inclusively if you don’t first unlearn your own biases,” one participant shared, capturing the spirit of the session.
As Ayhee Campos, IBPAP Chairperson, WIA Chairperson and Co-Convenor, passionately shared in her opening remarks: “Inclusive leadership isn’t just a strategy. It’s a stance. It’s about choosing empathy over ego, collaboration over control and impact over image.” This perspective reminds us that true leadership is not measured solely by results but by the relationships we nurture and the lives we uplift. By breaking silos, celebrating invisible labour and aligning business goals with social impact, leaders can foster cultures where individuals don’t just survive — they thrive.
The session affirmed that inclusive leadership is not a one-time activity but a continuous journey. UN Women Philippines and IBPAP, through the Gender Action Lab, will use the insights and lived experiences from the masterclass to shape a new blueprint for inclusive leadership. This roadmap will guide future programming and advocacy, extending beyond the IT-BPM sector to influence the wider business community and embed inclusion into everyday leadership practice.
About the Gender Action Lab
The UN Women Gender Action Lab: Innovation and Impact for Gender Equality in Asia and the Pacific, powered by the WEPs, is a dynamic action platform launched by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Government of Australia and UN Women in Asia and the Pacific.
The Gender Action Lab is envisioned as a long-term, multi-stakeholder and multi-donor platform across Asia and the Pacific, designed to galvanize efforts for gender-transformative action and impact in the private sector, and to leverage innovation to advance gender equality, women’s empowerment and sustainable development in building more inclusive economies across the region.
The initiative will be implemented for an initial period of four years, with a particular focus on Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and with activities extending across the broader ASEAN region.
