Once, I attended a business function as the only woman among many men. This was not, however, an unusual occurrence; as a female general counsel, I had faced many interesting situations.
On this occasion, a man came up to me and asked me who I was with. I regarded him for a second, took a rather dramatic sip of my water, and brushed my hair back a little, really savoring it. I imagined myself in a James Bond movie and said, “Sir, tonight I am unsupervised. Imagine all the damage I can do.”
Perhaps that might have been a little undiplomatic, but there was some built-up frustration in that area — he was just the person unfortunate enough to place the last straw on the camel’s back. Fortunately, there’s more to the story because it was also the incident that pushed me to do a little research on the issue.
In my research, I found that very few Fortune 500 companies had any female representation on their boards. Instead of getting outraged, though, I took that same fire that I could have used for anger and lit a passion inside me instead. I took it upon myself to bring this issue to light, and, for several months, I tweeted and shared satirical posts calling out Fortune 500 companies for having no female representation.
The response exceeded my expectations, with my actions garnering momentum. Before I knew it, something of a small movement had started to form.
All of this was great, but one of the biggest disappointments of our time is that we have given people so many platforms while achieving little progress. Social media gives everyone a voice, one which might resonate with people, but a voice can’t enforce change until the words take paper form. Not just any kind of paper either; I’m talking about laws.
Within the span of a few months, that passionate fire within me had remolded me from a lawyer into a lobbyist. I took on drafting and pushing for California Bill 826, focused on equal opportunity and promotion within corporate boards for different races and genders.
You see, real change is structured change. Changing the law changes the baseline. Before the bill was even passed, Fortune 500 companies were already becoming early adopters of the idea behind it, with several women joining their companies’ executive staff.
That’s not even the best part. While those were the immediate effects, there was an unexpected one that followed — one that is more overall beautiful. I started getting feedback, from graduates and girls preparing to go to college, that their dreams had changed. That they started to see themselves as lawyers, CEOs, board members, and more.
Young women fresh out of school told me about their plans to make it to the board room, telling me exactly how they were going to get there. It was quite moving.
That’s the real beauty of law — it doesn’t just challenge hierarchies and social complexes, it also tears down the inferiority complexes in the minds of 16-year-old girls.
It moves the horizon closer, expanding its reach and granting people more room to dream while removing space between them and their dreams.
That is why the law is the director of dreams. It tears down obstacles and opens the door between dreams and reality. You can hear more about this in this Legally Speaking Podcast, Forbes Features Miniseries with Robert Hanna.
What laws will make structural changes that move the horizon closer in 2021?
Olga V. Mack is the CEO of Parley Pro, a next-generation contract management company that has pioneered online negotiation technology. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She founded the Women Serve on Boards movement that advocates for women to participate on corporate boards of Fortune 500 companies. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat and Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security. You can follow Olga on Twitter @olgavmack.