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What do you gain from being a facilitator?

Helping people gives me a lot of positive energy. For example, I’ve run workshops with refugees whose lives began changing for the better, and women who’ve lived through wars. You can’t beat the feeling of helping people. I love it, and don’t even mind running a workshop with people in New Zealand at 3 a.m., which I did during their lockdown.

What kinds of issues do you deal with as a facilitator?

Sometimes in a workshop, when people have to read what they’ve written, they start crying, shaking, can’t read or can’t turn on the camera. You have to be sensitive and reassure them. I’ve had times where everybody was crying — for example, when we heard the story of a trans woman from Iran. But emotion connects people, too. Hearing others' life stories inspired me to live mine, and I hope that my story will help others to share their stories too.

To get involved and hear more stories, join #IamRemarkable Week 2022 from September28-30. The agendafeatures talks with guests like Venus Williams(in cooperation with Talks at Google), Tom Daleyand Deepica Mutyala, plus panels, daily exercisesand online workshops.

Most of us are taught we shouldn’t brag about our achievements — but is it bragging if you’re  stating facts? Judging from the looks of surprise I get when asking people to list their accomplishments, the answer to this question is often “yes.” But it shouldn’t be.

In 2016, I launched #IamRemarkable together with a colleague of mine. It is a global movement that empowers women and underrepresented groups to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond.  Our 90-minute workshop helps participants learn to acknowledge, share and celebrate what makes them remarkable. 

Ahead of this year’s #IamRemarkable Week, running September 8-15 2021, we asked five of last year’s participants to share their highlights. 

#IamRemarkable Week 2021 is September 8-15, 2021. The agenda is jam-packed with empowering talks, thought-provoking panels, daily exercises and online workshops offered in multiple languages. You can sign up for one of the more than 10 talks from  influential thinkers, creators and business leaders — including Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, Luvvie Ayaji Jones and Dr. Rola Hallam — brought to you in cooperation with Talks at Google.

Many of us struggle when it comes to talking about our own accomplishments. It can be an especially difficult subject for women and members of underrepresented groups.

Cultural and gender modesty norms, combined with widespread impostor syndrome, often prevent people from acknowledging their remarkable attributes and expressing their achievements. This holds back individuals, organizations and companies everywhere. 

A Google initiative, #IamRemarkable, is challenging this status quo by helping spark conversations that build people’s self-confidence and self-promotion skills. The 90 minutes workshop brings participants together in small facilitator-led groups and invites each individual to discuss their accomplishments and achievements. 

Even in the midst of lockdowns and work-from-home arrangements, the #IamRemarkable movement has been gaining ground. To help even more people benefit, we’re launching the first-ever #IamRemarkable Week from November 12-19. Open to anyone, the free online event will feature inspiring talks, workshops and confidence-boosting challenges. After experiencing #IamRemarkable Week, companies can bring the program in-house to support their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. 

• Browse our program schedule and sign up now for virtual talks by influential speakers including model and activist Naomi Campbell, nonbinary artist Shiva Raichandani, organisational psychologist John Amaechi and Head of YouTube Originals Susan Danniels.

• Participate in a workshop to learn about the importance of self promotion in your personal and professional lives. 

• Learn how to communicate your achievements by participating in the special #IamRemarkable Week Challenges, then track your progress.

To date, #IamRemarkable has reached 150,000+ participants across 140 countries with the help of 7,000 facilitators. More than 800 companies have implemented the program in their organizations.

For participants, the results have been significant:

• 49% said they experienced job and/or career growth after their workshops

• 82% said they felt more confident after their training

• 89% said they had begun actively promoting themselves following the workshop

Amidst the uncertainty and isolation of this year, #IamRemarkable has been especially important for helping leaders champion diversity, inclusion and allyship within their organizations. 

GSK, a consumer healthcare company, started to offer #IamRemarkable workshops during lockdown when thousands of employees began working from home. Since May, the program has been rolled out across 14 of GSK’s markets and various business functions. In-house facilitators have seen participants applying for promotions and new internal roles with more confidence after attending a workshop.

“We’re really proud of the impact it’s driven in our inclusion and diversity efforts,” said Meredith Herman, VP Head of Marketing EDGE at GSK. “The emotion, the celebration and the delight our teams have received through participating has been amazing.”

Ardhi Siregar, AVP, HR Partner for Manulife Business Processing Services (MBPS), has also become a proud #IamRemarkable backer. More than 400 MBPS employees have participated since it was launched at the company in 2019. 

“#IamRemarkable is helping us to address and get rid of unconscious bias,” said Ardhi.  “When you promote that kind of equality in an organization, it encourages employees to champion themselves, and drive higher performance.”

Another corporate participant, Unilever, has highlighted the positive impact the program has had on driving better business decisions. “It has led to a significant difference in the quality of conversations we are having in every meeting, which is enabling us to have better decision-making in the business,” said J.V. Raman, Executive VP of Unilever Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Join the #IamRemarkable Week and bring the #IamRemarkable initiative to your company.