IWD or International Women’s Day is a global event that commemorates achievements of women across social, economic, cultural and political arenas. It has a theme marked every year and in 2021 it proposes #challengetochange. Do check out our CEO- Georgina’s Challenge this year!
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Here at BUD, we are proud to have such an amazing group of women empowering and enabling others to step forward and lead positive change in businesses and communities.
Every year, women have marked some incredible strides and a noteworthy example is the way they have defined and shaped leadership. Over the last two years, countries with women leaders have received global reverence for effectively handling COVID-19. Besides, Kamala Harris defied all odds by becoming the first ever female, Black and South Asian Vice President of the United States and United Kingdom prides Scotland becoming the first ever country to allow free and universal access to menstrual products. All of these represent women paving the way for a more inclusive and equitable society.
Female leaders be it in business or politics play a vital role in leading the path to change. Whilst this is just the starting point, it is up to us as the greater part of the society to get started and get involved.
As the pandemic continues, here are #5 ways in which we encourage you to celebrate International Women’s Day:
#1 Acknowledge the amazing women in your life
Simple words of concern and encouragement can have a lasting impact in inspiring and dignifying people. Start by simply texting, calling your mother, grandmother, sister, friend or girlfriend preferably on video and let them know how amazing they have been and brought about positivity in your life.
#2 Lead positive change (LPC)
This past year has been very challenging for everyone forcing people to change in view of adversity. Evidence suggests that besides impacting them heavily, 2020 has also been a successful year for female entrepreneurs. BUD’s signature programme, Lead Positive Change is a high value yielding investment for all entrepreneurs at the incubation stage. In our mission, we believe in 3Es (Enable, Equip and Empower) to give all participants the necessary toolkits and frameworks to launch and manage a successful venture. Since 2014, BUD has helped jumpstart many entrepreneurial ideas and has been leading positive change. See what our change advocates have got to say
#3 Host and attend an online Open Mic
Hearing from achievers is the best way to seek inspiration and probably the best way to celebrate women’s day would be getting women to share their experience, knowledge and advice on the roadmap to success. This year’s celebration is going to be online and it gives you a chance to network and attend if not plan and execute one virtual event.
#4 Watch a film (Netflix watch party!!!)
With a lot of intense ideas, people would definitely look for a break. Here’s something that will make eyeballs roll. Host a Netflix watch party or any online streaming party celebrating women in films. A good starting point can be picking women centric films or the ones written or directed or both by women. Some interesting recommendations may be:
- Hidden Figures
- Million Dollar Baby
- Queen of Katwe
- Erin Brockovich
- Suffragette
#5 Advocate for an inclusive workplace
To ensure women make continuous progress at work and in the society, it is essential that businesses create an unbiased inclusive working environment. This International Women’s Day, BUD gives you a chance to revisit your policies and #challenge the leadership team to ensure equitable support at work. The first step towards that would be D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) training for the hiring staff within your firm. For more details, sign up for the BUD taster session.
Food for thought! We wouldn’t be able to address the most pressing problems in the world without inclusion and equality for women in fields such as politics, business, education and healthcare.
Happy International Women’s Day!