Halla Tómasdóttir: It's time for women to run for office
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 --
when women are not at work.
Icelanders had the courage
as their president.
as we know her by her first name,
of her own home,
by her side as she had won.
growing up at that time,
of how a young boy approached her
really grow up to be president?"
to run for president,
"Who am I to run for president?
to consider running than men.
had considered running for office,
that existed a decade earlier.
is in real need for women leaders
of creating the world
both our boys and girls
as many as 20 candidates.
nine candidates qualifying,
came down to four of us,
we had our own drama in Iceland.
that he was not going to run,
protest in Iceland,
they needed a trusted leader.
to his wife and her family's companies
running for office.
in the newspaper.
her candidacy had earned.
to say that I had to work extremely hard
that they would only include
or more in the polls
of the first TV debate
along with the three men,
on the day of the first TV debate.
and overcome on this journey
gender doesn't matter
to both get access and airtime in media.
appeared in broadcast media
leading up to the elections,
media is doing this consciously.
with unconscious bias,
much like everywhere else,
and unconscious bias,
to talk about it if we want to change it.
"Are you going to quit?"
to 2.5 percent in the polls,
and every time I appeared on TV,
a rise in the polls,
out of the final four candidates
asked of all other candidates
to compliment the Icelandic media.
about my hair and pantsuit.
that's very important.
or muscle behind me.
and do politics differently.
of the election for others by doing that.
why I had less airtime on TV,
other contenders respect.
proved to be so difficult,
on anything and responded on the spot.
and all the answers on an open Facebook
transparency is important
proved to be challenging,
to teach me how to do that,
during the last part of the campaign.
and humility, as I was very bad at it.
amongst young people by doing that.
a different type of campaign.
about politics without mentioning money.
but it's true,
than the other candidates.
asking for financial support.
to do more with less.
one third the financial resources,
but an amazing team,
on election night,
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.
of the election because of this,
who encouraged me to run again.
support from the young people,
my daughter to run in 2040.
I observed her on TV repeatedly,
supportive of her mother.
the highlight of my campaign.
a poster of me on a bus stop,
enough of a win for me.
or the office of the president.
on your very own "New Yorker."
"A living emoji of sincerity."
that women too often get penalized
their emotional capital,
that we become so good
on election night,
have to reach that office.
everyone working with you,
anything you will experience before.
than I can share here
and perseverance to not quit,
that I knew before on the one percent day,
listening to your own voice
and you all know this,
who share your values, your vision,
as entrepreneurs in the political arena,
that everyone said would be impossible.
the leading PR expert told me
because he was probably right,
on valuable experience.
that he was wrong.
because I did lose a lot of sleep,
and so did the people with me.
if we forget to take care of ourselves.
are very important in that,
and practices that nourish you,
maybe even more important,
to get rid of people and practices
and commentators.
from others in doing this,
when others went low,
my energy going throughout all of this.
it wasn't easy --
and everybody else in the campaign.
out of the journey,
was reached or not.
to inspire others to do so as well.
on Facebook and websites.
choosing your president,
will agree with me,
without saying
is ready to move to Iceland
can't vote there,
in launching the women's movement.
I'd love to bring the picture back up
when a country came to a standstill.
did not report it,
walked out again on Monday. Right?
PM: Can you tell us about that?
after the original strike,
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
a very large volunteer army
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