Happy International Women’s Day!!! Celebrate!!
Celebrating International Women’s Day by reflecting on the overwhelming influence women have had on my life.
On the homepage of the International Woman’s Day site it says “An equal world is an enabled world”. If you scroll down on that same page there is a quote from world renown feminist Gloria Steinem that says “The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.” I interpret that as a mandate for anyone who cares about human rights to take a close look at what this day means.
It has only been 100 years since women were given the right to vote (1920).
In the tech industry, we are embarrassingly lacking on diversity on this front. I am proud to say that the company I work for is working towards gender parity in the work place but there is a lot more work to be done. I truly believe that unless we have a diverse sets of opinions, skillsets and ideas, we, as a society, will not be as great as we can be. The products and services we sell will not be as great as they could have been.
As I prepared to write this article, I reflected on the inspiration that this day represents, I remembered these great women, I will not name them but they know who they are:
The one who brought me into this world and taught me to love, fight and take risks
The one who taught me to STOP being the superhero, and instead empower my customers to be the heroes, taught me the value of humility
The managers who laughed with me and continued to invest in my education even after I made a huge technical, potentially job ending mistake, I learned the value of investing in someone
The one who held my shaking hand while I got on an airplane for the first time, and opened an entire world of travel to me
The one who told me my clothes were out of date and helped me replace my 80s inspired wardrobe, great self-confidence booster
The one who taught me to stop taking things personally at work and instead have empathy towards people
I can keep going. Happy International Women’s Day!!! Celebrate!!