The theme for the month of March is celebrating Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. What is International Women’s Day? Learn more here!
The International Women’s Day (IWD) 2021 theme is #ChooseToChallenge. We can all choose to challenge ourselves, choose to challenge gender bias, and choose to challenge others to further educate themselves. This movement on social media encourages everyone to post a photo raising their hand to show that they are in and are ready to #ChooseToChallenge.
TLDR: International Women’s Day is an important day to celebrate women’s achievements, bring awareness to women’s equality and take action for gender equality. It’s a time for women to join together and empower one another for all the work that still needs to be done as well as celebrate all the fantastic female accomplishments of those around you. There are many ways to support this global movement by running campaigns, providing resources to educate people, and planning engaging events.
Various organizations are offering virtual events to bring women from around the world to celebrate this day together, including the International Women's Day Global Virtual Summit.
Idea: You can also host an internal event for your team celebrating and highlighting the amazing women and celebrate their achievements.
Host a company-wide women’s panel to start the conversation and inspire others. Have employees nominate incredible women leaders within your company that they would like to hear speak. Jump on a Zoom call, or host a lunch and learn where these women can more formally talk about what it means to be a woman in your company’s business and provide guidance/advice.
Idea: Record the virtual panel event so those who weren’t able to attend the event in real-time can have the opportunity to still watch it and be a part of it. Circulate a copy of the event in the #Women@ Slack channel in your company specifically.
Given the current situation of many small businesses struggling to stay afloat during these challenging times, it’s more important than ever to support local and small! Help celebrate Women’s Month by buying from businesses run by hard-working women to show your support.
Here is a list of local women-owned businesses to support based on where you live.
Create a campaign on your company’s social media featuring the strong female leaders on your team or turn it into a series of employee spotlights. Interview them on topics like who is their biggest female role model, what inspires them, and how they are celebrating International Women’s Day this year.
Note: Remember to use the hashtags #ChooseToChallenge and #IWD2021 when posting on social channels and post photos with individuals raising their hand to show they support the movement.
There are many global female-focused charities that all operate with a common goal; to help forge women’s equality while supporting the women and young girls of today. Donating or volunteering with these charities is the perfect opportunity to give back.
IWD offers a full list of their Charities of Choice that you and your team can help support all year long.
Idea: create a virtual fundraising event to bring your entire team together to work together and support a female-focused charity.
Another way to help inspire and empower the women on your team is by providing them with positive resources. Here is a list of TED Talks and podcasts that you can recommend your team listen to.
It is equally important to educate men on the topic of International Women’s Day and the challenges that women face all over the world. It’s important to have this educational discussion with all genders as everyone has a role in being an advocate for women’s rights and gender equality.
International organizations like UN Women, help to educate the public on the issues that are happening globally and are a champion for gender equality.
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