International Women’s Day: A Shared Mission

On Sunday, March 8, the world will celebrate International Women’s Day 2020. As I started to write this March message, I got very curious about the origins of Women’s Day and decided to Google some insight. I learned that the day of recognition dates back to 1910, when Clara Zetkin – the leader of Germany’s ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party – proposed the idea of establishing one day during which people around the world could celebrate women at the same time. A year later in March, the first International Women’s Day was recognized by more than 1 million people in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Denmark. It wasn’t until 1975 that the UN officially adopted the event, which has since become an official holiday in dozens of countries.

I’m struck by the fact that one woman more than 100 years ago sparked an idea that ignited a movement. She Runs It has a similar story. One woman with a vision launched a long and powerful history of advocacy. We have a similar history, and we face a similar disappointment. After more than 100 years of teaching, training, lifting and inspiring, we have much more work to do.

In asking myself, how do I support and accelerate the positive potential of International Women’s Day, I discovered a Forbes article that listed four simple ways to support the event and its theme: #eachforequal. I’ve committed She Runs It to doing all four.

1. Build awareness of gender equality. Through this newsletter and a subsequent social campaign, we are going to amplify the mission and momentum of International Women’s Day. Follow us on our social platforms and join the effort: @SheRunsItOrg
2. Support non-profit organizations working for women. For me this is the easiest, because She Runs It is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization. I make professional and personal contributions to our cause every day. Through your membership, you do too. And if any of you want to make a one-time donation you can do so on our website here.
3. Celebrate, support, and collaborate with other women. As a member of She Runs It, you deliver on this commitment through your participation in our programs and attendance at our events. Many of you recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of women on a daily basis in your workplace and community. Keep up the great work.
4. Start mentoring early. As most of our members know, She Runs It operates the industry’s largest and most successful mentoring program. There are currently about 400 mentoring pairs in the program, and every six months we recruit and pair additional participants. Our next program launches in June, so please watch our website for details on how to get involved.

International Women’s Day is an important, global opportunity to stand virtually shoulder to shoulder with women and men around the world on a mission to create gender equality. She Runs It shares that mission. And we share a vision of a world where as many women as men have a seat at the head of the proverbial table.