Halla Tómasdóttir: It's time for women to run for office
هالا توماسدوتير: حان وقت ترشح النساء
Icelandic entrepreneur Halla Tómasdóttir believes that if you’re going to change things, you have to do it from the inside. She infused the world of finance with “feminine values," which helped her survive the financial meltdown in Iceland and nearly made her president. Full bio
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to be the best place in the world
the center of Reykjavík --
في (آيسلندا)،
when women are not at work.
يعمل.
Icelanders had the courage
الشجاعة
as their president.
امرأة لتولي الرئاسة.
as we know her by her first name,
باسمها الأول،
of her own home,
by her side as she had won.
growing up at that time,
of how a young boy approached her
أقبل إليها
really grow up to be president?"
الأولاد ليصبحوا رؤساء؟"
to run for president,
"Who am I to run for president?
"من أنا لأترشح للرئاسة؟
to consider running than men.
had considered running for office,
لمنصب،
that existed a decade earlier.
is in real need for women leaders
نساء قائدات
of creating the world
both our boys and girls
as many as 20 candidates.
nine candidates qualifying,
came down to four of us,
في الولايات المتحدة،
we had our own drama in Iceland.
لدينا الدراما الخاصة بنا في آيسلندا.
that he was not going to run,
في الترشح للرئاسة.
protest in Iceland,
they needed a trusted leader.
قائد موثوق فيه.
to his wife and her family's companies
و شركات خاصة بعائلتها
running for office.
في انتخابات الرئاسة.
من يوم الانتخابات،
in the newspaper.
في الجريدة.
her candidacy had earned.
to say that I had to work extremely hard
كان يجب علي أن أقوم بعمل شاق
that they would only include
بأنهم سيقوموا باستضافة فقط
or more in the polls
في استطلاعات الرأي
of the first TV debate
من المناظرة التلفزيونية
along with the three men,
on the day of the first TV debate.
في أول أيام المناظرة.
and overcome on this journey
مواجهتها و التغلب عليها في هذه الرحلة
gender doesn't matter
to both get access and airtime in media.
وقت للبث الحي.
appeared in broadcast media
في وسائل الإعلام المذاعة
leading up to the elections,
media is doing this consciously.
with unconscious bias,
يحدث غالبًا لا شعوريًا،
much like everywhere else,
and unconscious bias,
to talk about it if we want to change it.
لو أردنا تغييره.
"Are you going to quit?"
to 2.5 percent in the polls,
في استطلاعات الرأى
and every time I appeared on TV,
وفي كل مرة ظهرت على التلفاز،
a rise in the polls,
out of the final four candidates
المرشحين النهائيين الأربعة
asked of all other candidates
كانت توجه للمرشحين الآخرين
to compliment the Icelandic media.
about my hair and pantsuit.
that's very important.
or muscle behind me.
ولم أرتكن إلى أي قوة.
and do politics differently.
وأن نعمل بالسياسة بشكل مختلف.
of the election for others by doing that.
أسلوب الانتخابات بفعلنا هذا.
why I had less airtime on TV,
على التلفاز بشكل كافي
other contenders respect.
proved to be so difficult,
شيء في منتهى الصعوبة،
on anything and responded on the spot.
وأجيب عليها في الحال.
and all the answers on an open Facebook
على الفيسبوك بشكل مفتوح
transparency is important
proved to be challenging,
تحد كبير،
to teach me how to do that,
during the last part of the campaign.
في الجزء الأخير من الحملة.
and humility, as I was very bad at it.
الدعابة والمزاح مع أنني سيئة جدًا فيهم.
amongst young people by doing that.
مع فعلنا ذلك.
a different type of campaign.
بشكل مختلف.
about politics without mentioning money.
بدون التحدث عن المال.
but it's true,
than the other candidates.
المرشحين الآخرين.
asking for financial support.
to do more with less.
أن أفعل الكثير بالقليل.
one third the financial resources,
وثلت الموارد المالية،
but an amazing team,
on election night,
في ليلة الانتخابات،
as you may see in that photo.
to the leading candidate.
because I didn't quite pull that,
from the one percent,
by an unprecedented margin,
above what the last poll came in at.
استطلاع للرأي.
of the election because of this,
الحقيقية للانتخابات بسبب ذلك،
who encouraged me to run again.
الانتخابات مرة ثانية.
support from the young people,
my daughter to run in 2040.
خوض انتخابات عام 2040.
I observed her on TV repeatedly,
أكثر من مرة،
supportive of her mother.
the highlight of my campaign.
يتمشون في الشارع،
a poster of me on a bus stop,
enough of a win for me.
or the office of the president.
منصب رئيس الدولة.
on your very own "New Yorker."
صحيفتكم (THE NEW YORKER)
"A living emoji of sincerity."
"الرمز التعبيري الحي للصدق".
that women too often get penalized
their emotional capital,
that we become so good
on election night,
وكأننا قد فزنا،
have to reach that office.
everyone working with you,
anything you will experience before.
آفاق لم تصل إليها من قبل.
than I can share here
and perseverance to not quit,
من المرونة والمثابرة،
that I knew before on the one percent day,
الواحد في المائة،
listening to your own voice
and you all know this,
وأنتم جميعًا تعلمون هذا،
who share your values, your vision,
نفس القيم والرؤية،
as entrepreneurs in the political arena,
that everyone said would be impossible.
the leading PR expert told me
في أحسن الأحوال.
because he was probably right,
on valuable experience.
that he was wrong.
because I did lose a lot of sleep,
لأني حُرمت النوم كثيرًا،
and so did the people with me.
if we forget to take care of ourselves.
لو نسينا الاعتناء بأنفسنا.
are very important in that,
أعتقد أنهما في غاية الأهمية،
and practices that nourish you,
maybe even more important,
حتى أنه أكثر أهمية،
to get rid of people and practices
من الأشخاص والممارسات
and commentators.
from others in doing this,
when others went low,
my energy going throughout all of this.
الحفاظ على طاقتي طيلة هذه المدة.
it wasn't easy --
and everybody else in the campaign.
ومن يعمل معي في الحملة.
out of the journey,
نستخلصه من الرحلة
was reached or not.
الوجهة المطلوبة أم لا.
to inspire others to do so as well.
أن يفعلوا هذا أيضًا.
on Facebook and websites.
الفيسبوك والمواقع الإلكترونية.
choosing your president,
will agree with me,
without saying
بدون قولي
is ready to move to Iceland
للذهاب إلى آيسلندا
can't vote there,
لأتذكر عام 1975
in launching the women's movement.
حركة النساء.
I'd love to bring the picture back up
وأود أن أسترجع الصورة
when a country came to a standstill.
حينما تكون في حالة توقف تام.
did not report it,
walked out again on Monday. Right?
يوم الإثنين. أليس صحيحًا؟
PM: Can you tell us about that?
بات ميتشيل:هل يمكنك أن تخبرينا عنه؟
after the original strike,
من الإضراب الأصلي،
in the world to be a woman,
they had earned their day's salary.
that we close the pay gap.
Halla to commit right now
أن تلتزم الآن
a very large volunteer army
من المتطوعين
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Halla Tómasdóttir - Change catalystIcelandic entrepreneur Halla Tómasdóttir believes that if you’re going to change things, you have to do it from the inside. She infused the world of finance with “feminine values," which helped her survive the financial meltdown in Iceland and nearly made her president.
Why you should listen
Tómasdóttir's philosophy is simple: (1) the challenges we're facing today won't be solved by testosterone alone; (2) the world would be a better, safer, more sustainable place if we could infuse finance, business and politics with more gender balance; and (3) it's easier to change things from the inside.
True to this philosophy, Tómasdóttir co-founded Audur Capital in 2008, the world's first investment firm based on "feminine values." Audur was one of few financial companies in Iceland to survive the crash. Tómasdóttir has since been an active change catalyst, advocating for principle-based leadership and more women around decision-making tables.
In 2016, responding to popular demand (and a viral Facebook campaign), Tómasdóttir ran for president of Iceland. A woman in a man's race. Polls initially put Tómasdóttir as an outsider, predicting 1 percent of the vote. A few weeks later, against all odds, Tómasdóttir came in second supported by 28 percent of Icelanders.
Halla Tómasdóttir | Speaker | TED.com