What is HB6 ?
Homeward Bound is a global 12-month leadership initiative for women with a background in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine). It aims, over ten years, to equip a 1000-strong collaboration of women with the skills to demonstrate a new model of leadership and create better outcomes for our planet.
In 2021, Homeward Bound welcomes 100 participants into its sixth program, HB6, encompassing more than 25 nationalities and a hugely diverse representation of STEMM fields. The program includes online learning to increase leadership capacity, strategic capability, visibility and collaboration and culminates in a meeting of all 100 participants of HB6 in Ushuaia, Argentina before embarking on a life-changing voyage to one of the most ecologically sensitive and inspiring areas on Earth, Antarctica. The voyage for HB6 is scheduled for March 2022.
All women from the world were selected to take part in recognition of their potential to lead and enact change making them natural choices for the highly sought-after leadership program. The challenge to travel the distance from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Antarctica as a team with other women from around the world sums up the opportunity and need for this type of program, to allow women to work together to contribute to shaping the future. The virtual journey is particularly important in light of the COVID-19 pandemic which has emphasised just how vital it will be to collaborate internationally to solve global challenges.
Research repeatedly shows that while women demonstrate great integrity and a legacy mindset when it comes to leadership, decision-making and the creation of collaborative and effective teams, they are overwhelmingly under-represented in traditionally male-dominated professions. In STEMM fields in particular, it is widely acknowledged that women are under-represented in leadership positions in the West. However in the Middle East, evidence through a research from the UNESCO shows that more females in the MENA region work in areas of STEMM.
Founded in 2016, The Homeward Bound program was a dream of Australian leadership expert Fabian Dattner, who believed the world needed an initiative to unlock the leadership potential of outstanding women in STEMM, to upskill and support them to lead, influence and contribute to decision-making about the future of our planet.
For further information, visit www.homewardboundprojects.com.au