March 2020: All Genders for International Women's Day

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

International Women's Day is a big deal at my company. Globally, we've had a big focus on ensuring opportunities for women, including at senior levels. Many of our female executives are recognized publicly for their work in this area.

This year, we wanted to do more than recognize the day, we wanted to get people sharing, talking, thinking and learning...and we wanted men to feel included in the day as well.

A great group of volunteers joined leaders from the Inclusion & Diversity Steering Committee and came up with great discussion topics that engaged everyone, regardless of gender. A key topic was "share of voice", helping people think about who talks in meetings and how to make sure everyone has an opportunity to be heard. They wove in current events such as treatment of Meghan Markle in the press, which helped people loosen up and talk more openly about gender and other inclusion & diversity topics.

I am so grateful to everyone who worked so hard to make the day a success. And, it's all the more impressive because all genders were involved.