Michaela Bakala on Flow: Why She Is Founding [y]nitiative

The main topic of the interview was the founding of [y]nitiative, whose full launch is planned for fall 2026. The organization will focus on publicly active women and offer concrete support: free legal advice on dealing with cyberbullying, psychological assistance, and crisis PR. “Many institutions do many things to support women who are abused or are victims of some form of violence. This initiative wants to focus on women in public life, so they do not leave their public positions and so they are not afraid to stay. We want them to have someone to turn to,” Michaela Bakala explains.

Beyond direct support for victims, the organization aims to cultivate the ethical boundaries of Czech public debate through awareness campaigns and workshops. One of the key arguments behind [y]nitiative is the finding that women face cyberbullying at higher rates than men, and that this is one of the reasons discouraging them from entering public life, including politics. The long-term goal is to increase the representation of women in leadership positions across politics, the non-profit sector, and media.

Joining Michaela Bakala in leading the initiative are former Government Commissioner for Human Rights Klára Šimáčková Laurenkčíková, former EU Commissioner Věra Jourová, and former Rector of Charles University Milena Králíčková.

In the interview, Michaela Bakala connected the theme of [y]nitiative to her own experience from the early 2000s, when she served as head of communications at ODS in what was then an exclusively male environment. “Macho undertones came even from my own colleagues, because that was just how things were. When someone came to a meeting, I may have been the director of communications, but there was an expectation that I would bring them coffee,” she recalls. As a beauty pageant winner, she also had to defend her expertise with twice the effort: “You have to work even harder to convince people and say: Yes, that’s true, but that was twenty years ago. I have a university degree and I’m giving you an opinion here because I’ve earned it. Don’t think of how I look — listen to what I’m saying.” She views the current climate as even harsher, noting that attacks on women in public life today frequently escalate into offensive sexual insults.

The interview also touched on the recent end of twenty years of financial support for the Václav Havel Library. Journalist Jonášová asked about the decision directly; Michaela Bakala described it as a considered, not an emotional step, reached after two decades of partnership. "We have always felt honored to help carry Václav Havel's legacy forward. In recent times, however, the way the institution has been managed and operated no longer aligned with our agreed-upon principles and the terms of our partnership. After 22 years of successful collaboration, we have therefore decided to step back from our role as the Library's strategic partner and make room for new partners who will bring their own vision and take responsibility for it," Michaela said on the program.

The project that gives her complete satisfaction, Michaela Bakala said, is the family’s Bakala Foundation. Over eighteen years, it has made prestigious international study possible for more than two hundred Czech students who could not have afforded it on their own. She described the selection of scholarship recipients as a demanding process, both intellectually and emotionally, but one whose results are well worth it. The interview also raised the question of how challenging it is for Czech students to make their mark at Oxford or Cambridge.