The Institute for Climate Protection, Energy and Mobility (IKEM) and Ellery Studio are pleased to announce the launch of their crowdfunding campaign for EQT: The Gender Equality Toolkit for Working Women and Friends. The two organisations collaborated closely to create the toolkit, which aims to empower women and their allies to recognise and counter sexism at work. The toolkit contains an award-winning infographic poster, an informative handbook, and an illustrated card game that allows players to practise real-time responses to sexist scenarios in a playful format. The crowdfunding cam-paign to finance production will run from Thursday, 19 May through Sunday, 3 July 2022.
Studies show that sexism at work negatively affects job satisfaction, job performance, and mental health. Recognising and responding to sexist behaviour takes courage – as well as knowledge, preparation and a ready supply of evidence-based arguments.
‘Sexism can leave you speechless,’ said Anika Nicolaas Ponder, head of the Sustainability & Innova-tion Department at IKEM and one of the initiators of EQT. ‘Sexist statements and behaviour usually catch people off guard: when someone makes a comment in passing or during a meeting, you gener-ally don’t have the time or the wherewithal to formulate a spontaneous response. But those mo-ments offer crucial opportunities to catalyse change, to show that sexist behaviour has no place at work and that it won’t be tolerated – so it’s important to be prepared. That’s why we developed a gender equality toolkit.’
EQT provides facts and statistics about feminism and gender inequality, promotes constructive discussions on gender bias and discrimination, and encourages positive change in the workplace. The card game includes 100 illustrated playing cards that present players with a variety of reactions to sexist scenarios and offer an opportunity to discuss, select and try out the most promising options.
A handbook on gender equality, which presents facts, statistics, compelling arguments and useful infographics, and the infographic poster honours the most important milestones in female empowerment. ‘We wanted to provide an opportunity for women and allies to role-play responses to sexism, as well as theoretical background knowledge that they can use to identify and address harmful prejudices,’ explained Eugen Litwinow, who helped spearhead the creation of the toolkit as managing director of Ellery Studio, a Berlin-based agency for strategy and design. ‘The handbook, poster and card game are designed to empower readers to initiate positive change in their organisations.’
The various elements of the toolkit were developed by a diverse group of experts and designed by award-winning illustrators and infographic artists. EQT is designed for anyone – women, femme-presenting people, men, non-binary people – who wants to be prepared and find their allies. The toolkit is available in English and in German.
