Hope, Trust and Change: A New Gender Equality Vision for 2026

This article launches my 2026 vision and renews our commitment to the 1 Million Change Leaders movement, a global, collective endeavour to develop leaders who can see wider, feel deeper, and act together to create hope, trust and change between people, even when we disagree.

The Weight of Now: Personal Exhaustion Amid Global Shock

The turn of the year laid bare how global turbulence compounds personal strain. A devastating New Year’s fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans‑Montana claimed dozens of lives and injured more than a hundred, an event described by Switzerland’s president as among the country’s worst tragedies.

At the same time, escalating US Venezuela tensions surged into a dramatic military strike over the holiday period, with the seizure of Venezuela’s president, a level of geopolitical shock that reverberates across economies, supply chains, and human lives.

And the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues into 2026, winter storms, flooding and fragile food security have compounded already dire conditions. UN agencies report constrained access and critical infrastructure damage. Meanwhile in Ukraine, now three years into full scale war, mental health needs are surging with WHO documenting widespread declines in wellbeing and persistent attacks on health care.

These are not abstract headlines, they become felt stress in managers, teams and families. The global workplace itself is fraying, Gallup’s 2025 data show engagement down to 21%, only 33% of people thriving, and manager burnout driving much of the decline, evidence that conventional performance levers are failing under chronic strain.

Choosing Our Future: A Vision of Unity, Equality and Hope

I have a vision of our world that is no longer driven by fear, control, or the relentless pursuit of power. A world where people do not feel compelled to dominate or accumulate status to prove their point or their worth, because they know deeply that they are enough. Where self-esteem is abundant, and success is measured not by rising above others but by lifting each other up. Where businesses thrive not through ruthless short-term gains, but through creating environments of dignity, equality, and collaboration. Where individuals are free from the exhausting race for self-gain and instead embrace the joy of building something greater together, a collective human race united not by uniformity but by mutual respect and a beautiful imagination.

Am I so naïve to believe this is possible? I don’t think so. This is not fantasy, it is the next step in our human evolution. It is inevitable if we choose it. A future where technology amplifies empathy, diversity is celebrated as strength, and decisions are guided by conscience as much as by data. A world where boardrooms ask not only “What will drive growth?” but “How will we evolve together?” This is the candescent horizon we must move towards, a world lit by collaboration, compassion, and collective intelligence.

Twenty‑Five Years of Pioneering the Possible

When I founded Aspire in 2001 as I was embarking on my 30th year, coaching and leadership development were still emerging ideas, countercultural in many organisations and focusing our practice on women in leadership was radical and considered way too ‘feminist’. We were the first in the UK to do so, and I was among the early wave of professional coaches who believed that unlocking human potential especially for those excluded by traditional hierarchies could change organisations and communities for good. A quarter century on, coaching is mainstream, and many excellent organisations now work to advance women in the workplace. That progress is real and welcome. Yet progress is still too slow, and something deeper must change in how we define gender equality, how we lead as women and men and the skills we must acquire for change.

The Interconnection Between Gender Equality, Change Leadership, and Collective Intelligence (CQ)

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The Aspire Gender Equality Framework sits at the heart of three interconnected elements: Gender Equality, the 1 Million Change Leaders movement and the skillset of Collective Intelligence (CQ).

1) Gender equality, we define inclusively as women, men, and everyone, provides the foundation for fairness and representation.

2) The 1 Million Change Leaders initiative drives global action, inspiring individuals to lead transformative change aligned with this vision.

3) CQ is the skill set that enables change leadership, combining imagination, sensory awareness, intuitive listening, and empathy to create collaborative solutions that transcend individual perspectives and fears.

Together, these elements form a dynamic ecosystem where equality fuels leadership, leadership amplifies collaboration, and collaboration unlocks the creativity and imagination needed to achieve lasting societal change.

Redefining Gender Equality for the Human Era

From day one, Aspire tied leadership to gender equality not as a “women’s issue” but as a strategic imperative for organisational performance and social progress. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025 underscores the urgency, parity is still 123 years away at the current pace, despite momentum since 2024 progress that remains fragile and uneven.

Today, Aspire is leading the way with a modern, inclusive approach that embraces men, women, and gender-diverse individuals. Gender equality is where every person regardless of gender identity has equal rights and opportunities to thrive in all areas of life. It moves beyond binary notions of gender fostering environments where everyone can contribute fully and flourish without fear.

True gender equality recognises the diversity of human experience and ensures that policies, practices, and cultures enable authentic participation and equitable access to decision-making.

At its core, gender equality is a human centred principle, it is about dignity, fairness, and belonging for all because equality is a collective gain for societies, economies, and humanity.

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Why This Framework?

This framework is rooted in UN Sustainable Goal 5 for gender equality and its original nine sub areas, which remain globally recognised benchmarks for gender equality. However, we have adjusted and recreated it for three reasons

1. Current World Issues: The original targets were designed in 2015. Today’s landscape needs to also include urgent crises, armed conflict, climate change, and rising polarisation and demands additional focus areas.
2. Business Relevance: We’ve translated global policy language into strategic priority initiatives that businesses and organisations can own, making them actionable for leadership contexts. We believe that business aspires to be more purpose driven and contribute positively to global social issues.
3. Inclusive Approach: We added a further new pillar on engaging men and boys to counter divisive narratives (e.g., manosphere thinking), foster collaboration rather than opposition and to recognise that without everyone rising, we do not stand a chance.

Hierarchy of Importance for Fastest Global Impact

Top Tier – Immediate Global Impact

1. Protect & Empower Women in Conflict and Crisis Safeguard women in war zones and humanitarian crises; ensure participation in peacebuilding. Why now: Conflicts and displacement are surging, and women face extreme sexual violence and exclusion during war.
2. Gender‑Responsive Climate Action & Just Transition Embed gender equality in climate policy, finance, and disaster risk reduction. Why now: Climate change amplifies inequality and risk, and urgent integration accelerates resilience.
3. Eliminate Violence & Exploitation End all forms of violence, trafficking, and exploitation against women. Why now: Violence against women and trafficking are rising globally, especially in fragile states and online spaces.

Second Tier – Structural Transformation

1. Ensure Leadership Participation Guarantee equality of leadership in decision‑making across sectors. Why now: Representation drives systemic change and inclusive governance.
2. Engage Men and Boys for Inclusive Change Involve men to dismantle harmful stereotypes and reduce divisiveness. Why now: Many men support gender equality and are looking for a purposeful role to play. For boys and young men, countering polarisation and extremist narratives about women is critical for sustainable equality.
3. Strengthen Policies & Laws Adopt and enforce gender responsive laws and corporate governance frameworks. Why now: Accountability underpins all progress.

Third Tier – Social & Economic Foundations

1. Equal Economic Resources Secure equal access to property, finance, and entrepreneurship opportunities. Why now: Economic inequality is widening globally, and without equal access to property, finance, and entrepreneurship, women risk being locked out of recovery and innovation in a rapidly changing economy.
2. Value Unpaid Care Recognise and redistribute unpaid care through flexible work and support systems. Why now: Unpaid care work surged during the pandemic and continues to underpin economies without recognition. Redistributing this burden is critical to prevent burnout and enable full workforce participation.
3. Guarantee Reproductive Rights Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Why now: Reproductive rights are under threat in many regions with women being prosecuted for abortions or even miscarriages. Lack of access to healthcare directly impacts education, employment, and gender equality. Immediate action safeguards autonomy and wellbeing.

Fourth Tier – Cultural & Technological Enablers

1. End Harmful Practices Eliminate child marriage, FGM, and other harmful traditions. Why now: Harmful traditions like child marriage and FGM persist despite global commitments. Accelerating elimination is vital to protect millions of women from lifelong health, education and social consequences.
2. End Discrimination Remove systemic bias in law, policy, and workplace culture. Why now: Systemic bias continues to block progress in law, policy, and workplaces. Tackling discrimination now ensures inclusive growth and prevents regression on hard-won rights.
3. Enhance Technology Use Close the digital gender gap and leverage tech for empowerment. Why now: The digital gender gap is widening as technology advances. Closing this gap today is essential to ensure women are not excluded from AI driven content, economies and future opportunities.

How This Drives Change Fast

• Top tier tackles existential threats such as war, climate, violence where intervention saves lives and stabilises societies.
• Second tier creates systemic levers for inclusion and governance.
• Third tier builds economic and social resilience.
• Fourth tier sustains cultural and technological progress.

This framework reframes equality as for everyone women, men, boys and people of diverse gender identities. Without that universal framing, efforts risk deepening division instead of building collective progress.

The Aspire Gender Equality Priority Framework is not just a set of ideals, it is a practical roadmap for what needs to happen and how it happens. Yet let’s be honest, if leaders begin 2026 focused purely on surviving the day-to-day, making cold, analytical decisions under short term pressure, then conversations about the evolution of humanity, equality, and how we work together will never make it onto the boardroom agenda. When was the last time you sat in a meeting that integrated how we treat people, how we create equality, and how we become more human as we evolve as a planet and society?

In an increasingly anti “woke” environment, many organisations are being discouraged from advancing equality, diversity, inclusion, or sustainability. This is why we need a formal, sustained commitment not piecemeal gestures to embed these principles into leadership practice. The framework provides the structure, but it will take a radical change of leadership thinking, courage, conviction, collective imagination and intelligence to make it real.

How We lead: What Got Us Here Won’t Get Us There

Across the past 25 years, leadership has valued cognitive intelligence, data and analytical thinking in ways that downplay notions of equality, imagination and emotions. With complex, multi-dimensional issues, black and white rationality is increasingly inadequate and emotional intelligence is critical.

Yet, too few people can name and regulate their own emotions, fewer still can understand others’ emotions, and emotional intelligence (EQ) pioneered in the 1990s remains marginalised as “soft” in many arenas. The result? Burnout, mental health decline, brittle cultures that struggle to adapt and very slow progress on gender equality. This isn’t a call to abandon analytical reason, it’s a call to transcend it to build visionary and emotionally intelligent individuals, teams, organisations and societies capable of equality, trust, hope, and understanding across differences.

The Shift: From Individual Brilliance to CQ

This is why, at Aspire, we advance the new concept of CQ, the enhanced capacity created when people work together to mobilise wider information, ideas and insights, improving how we understand problems, design solutions, decide and adapt. CQ is not a buzzword, it is common sense for a complex world, and it rests on the emotions and human conditions leaders must cultivate.

The Five Core CQ Skills (Aspire 2026 model)

1. Intuitive Listening – hearing beyond words to grasp meaning and intent.
2. Sensory Awareness – attunement to subtle signals in people and environments.
3. Courage and Conviction – values anchored action amid uncertainty.
4. Dreaming and Imagination – envisioning possibilities beyond current constraints.
5. Empathy and Compass – navigating complexity with compassion and a clear moral and ethical North.

These five skills create the psychological safety and inclusive dynamics that make CQ possible, enabling better decisions, faster adaptation, more resilient, innovative teams and accelerated progress on solving some of the world’s biggest problems.

Why Leadership Must Evolve – Formally and Sustainably

If we continue to rely on old leadership models, hierarchical, reactive, transactional, we will keep producing exhausted people and fragile systems. The crisis of climate, conflict, misinformation and inequality demands leaders who can hold complexity and emotion while mobilising CQ for practical action. Formal, sustained development not piecemeal initiatives is essential, manager capacity, inclusive cultures, and CQ skills are now hard strategic assets, linked to productivity and resilience.

For years, our work has combined leadership science with inclusive practice courses, coaching, research and convenings grounded in CQ and SDG 5. We help leaders lead from purpose, build networks of support and influence, navigate uncertainty with clarity, champion diversity and inclusion, and commit to action that transforms systems.

An Invitation

If you lead a team, a business unit, a community or a family this future needs you. Join us to learn and practise the five CQ skills, embed the Aspire Gender Equality Priority Framework, and build organisations where people can thrive and contribute to a new vision of hope, trust and change.

If this vision resonates, I can help you bring it to life through keynote speaking and panel moderation (board meetings, International Women’s Day, leadership summits), in‑house workshops and webinars that build the five CQ skills and embed the Aspire Gender Equality Priority Framework, and executive coaching (1‑to‑1 and team) for leaders who want clarity, vision, courage and greater impact. I also host a podcast and publish articles that you can use for ongoing learning.

To explore a talk, workshop series, or coaching partnership, please do get in touch.

References

Daniel Goleman. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam Books.

Gallup. (2025). State of the global workplace report: Engagement and wellbeing trends. Gallup. Retrieved from https://www.gallup.com

Nesta. (n.d.). Collective intelligence design playbook. Retrieved from https://www.nesta.org.uk

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (n.d.). Accelerator labs: Collective intelligence for sustainable development. Retrieved from https://www.undp.org

World Economic Forum. (2025). Global gender gap report 2025. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org

United Nations. (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Retrieved from https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5

UN Women. (2025). Beijing+30 findings: Backlash against women’s rights. Retrieved from https://www.unwomen.org

UNFCCC. (n.d.). Gender action plan and climate policy integration. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int

WHO. (2025). Mental health impacts of conflict in Ukraine. Retrieved from https://www.who.int

UNOCHA. (2025). Humanitarian updates: Gaza crisis. Retrieved from https://www.unocha.org

Sky News. (2026, January). Swiss New Year’s fire in Crans Montana: Scale and impact. Retrieved from https://news.sky.com

Haiilo Blog. (2025). Manager burnout and workplace engagement trends. Retrieved from https://blog.haiilo.com