Real. Raw. Grounded — 7 established Jamaican women join in the campaign for women’s rights

THE Real R.A.W campaign, which was launched this Women’s Day to empower women and facilitate equal opportunities for advancement, has been amplified by seven Jamaican women who are ‘grounded’ in their careers.

The online campaign, which is directed by digital marketer Amber Dennis, is using the experiences of these set of women to inspire others to strive for excellence, while uplifting others. These participants will be instrumental in expanding Real R.A.W’s online community, so that it can reach more women.

The campaign’s chief communications officer Davida-Mae Chambers explained to All Woman that ‘Grounded’ was selected as the first theme of the Real R.A.W campaign because they wanted to highlight the challenges faced and lessons learned by women who are settled in their respective industries.

“Grounded is the foundation,” she said. “We want to eventually focus on other themes such as worth, wellness and wealth, but ‘grounded’ in a way, focuses on those as well. And then we eventually want to reach a point where we have one-on-one sessions, workshops, and print our advocacy booklet.”

The first wave of women who will help the campaign take root are Jade Lee –agriculture; Odessa Chambers – media and communications; Janna Patel – music and law; Jherane Patmore – language and culture; L’Antoinette Stines, PhD –dance and education; Gabrielle Clarke – fashion; and Stacey Hines – business and technology.

“As we strive to enact change in our communities, wider society and within the public and private sectors, we seek to highlight the stories of successful women who have been grounded in values such as integrity, inclusivity, equality and innovation,” Chambers explained.

“Conversations around gender and women’s issues are usually still uncomfortable, for both men and women,” said Dennis, who started the movement. “While there will always be things in life you can’t control — you have the power to choose how you reframe your thoughts and reclaim the power in toxic relationships and work environments.”

The campaign will be run primarily on popular social media platforms through the use of photo, text and video content, and based on their www.realrawcampaign.com website. Partners include M1 Production, Chrissy’s Coils & 44 Miles Jewellery, visual artist Jik-Reuben Pringle, freelance photographer Nickii Kane, graphic and video editor Hue Wisdom, and make-up artists Tiffany Lamour Gordon and Dominique Mitchell.

This phase of the campaign was rolled out officially on Friday, and will run through the rest of 2020. A new wave of women will then continue the advocacy campaign.