How did you embrace equity on International Women's Day 2023?
March 8th 2023 marked International Women’s Day (IWD). In London, there were numerous events and exhibits to celebrate IWD. For example, The Royal Opera House held an exclusive performance of ‘Born to Exist: The Woman I Know’, created by Royal Ballet Emerging Choreographer Joseph Toonga in the Linbury Theatre. The performance was followed by a panel discussion between the choreographer, Royal Ballet creative producer and dancers exploring themes of gender equity in the dance sector.
How was IWD celebrated in the corporate world? How did you celebrate IWD at your workplace? Numerous organisations made a celebratory post on their social media platforms and website. Donations were made towards charities and organisations empowering women and promoting gender equity. Limited-time products were released especially in the clothing industry. Clothing brands such as North Face released their own collection of clothing designed by female designers.
However, a company that caught my attention this year was M&M’S who took charge in developing their headline product from both the inside and outside to recognise and promote women who are working to eliminate gender inequality.
Ahead of IWD 2023, Mars introduced a limited-edition packaging design for its M&M'S brand featuring only female characters Purple, Brown and Green. This was the first time the female trio characters were represented as a unity. Her presence on the packaging came as the next step to the launch of M&M's purple candy in September 2022. Gabrielle Wesley, Mars North America Chief Marketing Officer, remarked that "Women all over the world are flipping how they define success and happiness while challenging the status quo, so we're thrilled to be able to recognize and celebrate them - and who better to help us on that mission than our own powerhouse spokescandies Green, Brown and Purple?"
M&M's also donated $1 from each International Women's Day pack purchased to charities She Is the Music and We Are Moving the Needle. They made a further donation of $300,000 aside from the limited-edition candy sales to female-focused organisations such as the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and Female Founder Collective. On top of that, they also provided further financial support for women, giving a $10,000 grant to financially support a woman's status quo busting behaviour.
That is not to say that all celebrations must stay in-house. Plan International USA, a girls' rights organisation, partnered with Bank of Montreal, UNIQLO and Vertex to host events called Takeovers. This gave young female prospective leaders, ranging from ages 16-22, to experience what it is like to work in an executive position for a day. The day included discussion and critical conversations on gender equality which gave the Gen Z to voice their opinions and the older generations to hear the general consensus of the future generation of leaders.
In this way, corporations and organisations embrace IWD 2023 in their own way. One thing I did notice was that most conferences and talks held on or leading up to IWD 2023 were led solely by women and did not include male allies who advocate gender equality. Whilst I understand that one of the main purposes of IWD is to celebrate women, one of the main barriers towards gender equity is the fact that male figures don’t often know why and/or how they can partake in the journey to achieving gender equity. Having the voice of a male ally will inspire and encourage others to become allies and would complement all the efforts and achievements that are being made.
