10 Top Tips For Celebrating International Women’s Day in 2022

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been held every year for over 100 years. It is a day to celebrate women and to promote women’s right for equality across the globe. Held on March 8th, this years theme is #Breakthebias, asking us to “imagine a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination”. We have shared some great ideas for you to celebrate the day with colleagues or friends.

1. - Host a coffee morning

Whether it is a virtual coffee morning or face to face it doesn’t matter. Take an hour or so out from your busy schedule and take the time to gather people from across the business together to discuss the theme of #breakthebias. Ask everyone to share how they’ve been influenced by inspirational women or give everyone the opportunity to share their own personal experiences of what they’ve encountered and what they’ve had to overcome.

2. - Get staff to strike a pose and share them on social

To encourage further people to commit to helping forge an inclusive world this year IWD is asking for everyone to strike a pose by crossing their arms in solidarity and to then share the images on social using the hashtags #breakthebias and #IWD2022. Whilst this may seem like a small thing to do, please don’t underestimate how important raising awareness and support for the cause is.

3. - Host a panel event with the leadership team

Host a panel event on how to make positive change within your workplace. Give staff the opportunity to ask questions on how positive change is taking place and encourage participants to share stories of what is working well along with their ideas on how future improvements can be made. To get the conversation started you could always share some of the findings from our recent networking event on Building A Better Future for Women in the Workplace or some of our survey results which show that whilst improvements have been made there is a way to go before we achieve equality.

4. - Encourage staff to attend one of the IWD online events

If you don’t have time to organise your own event then check out the IWD Events Showcase page which has some events listed from across the world with some amazing speakers lined up. For example one of IWD flagship events ‘Celebrates Women who are Redefining the Future of Business’ or Headspring are hosting an event on ‘Diverse Leadership: Moving from Why to How”. Of course you could always host your own and attend one of these events too.

5. - Have the Executive team make a statement of support

Getting the Executive team on board is key so get them to write a statement on the importance of actively supporting women’s advancement in the workplace. They can share this within the organisation and they can also share it on the IWD site. There are already plenty of examples on the site from other organisations who have pledged their support.  

6. - Download IWD backgrounds to use in your virtual meetings

If like so many of us you’re still working remotely then be sure to use one of the IWD backgrounds for your meetings, there are a number to choose from, or you could always create your own.

7. - Reach out to other superwomen

This is the perfect time to reach out to others and sing their praises. Gratitude really does go a long way and there is no better time than to recognise the women in your team for all their hard work. There’s no need to stop with your work colleagues, reach out to all the women in your lives who matter and remind them of why they are so special.

8. - Involve men and people who identify beyond the gender binary in the discussions

For #breakthebias to really work it is paramount that everyone is involved and onboard. A Harvard Business Review article highlighted how when men are engaged in gender inclusion programmes 96% of organisations see progress as opposed to only 30% when men are not involved. So be sure to make the events inclusive to all.

9. - Set up a book club

Start a book club with colleagues where you focus on reading books on women’s issues and achievements and then discuss your learnings and reflections. Here are some of our favourite books to start off with:

Invisible Women, Caroline Criado Perez - A truly fascinating read on data bias and how everyday decision making has been based on male dominated data, from the size of your iPhone to the safety of your car. Once you start it you won’t be able to put it down and you’ll be quoting facts from it for months to come.

Taking up Space, Chelsea Kwakye, Ore Ogunbiyi - This book explores what it means to be a black girl within education highlighting the barriers to entry and the lack of diversity within the curriculum and calls for change.

Make it Happen, Amika George - A motivating read from an inspirational activist providing advice on how all of us can make a difference to fight inequality and prejudice.

Run Like a Girl, Mina Samuels - This book is about how participating in sports impacts women by making them stronger and more resilient in facing challenges. She calls on her own experience and also shares some inspirational stories from other women too.

10. - Don’t save all the fun for work celebrate the day at home too

There’s no need to keep all the celebrations for the office and if you have children or nieces and nephews, educating them about the importance of equality will give women of the future a better chance to a world without bias. There are lots of resources for children on the IDW site and amongst others you can also check out the free resources on the National Geographic site and on the Oxfam site here.

In the evening you could watch a film featuring some inspirational women or a film directed by a woman, invite friends round, watch with the family or even host a virtual film night through Netflix or Amazon Prime where you can watch together in real time.

Some of our favourites are:

Battle of the Sexes - a 2017 film directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton based on 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell. Billie Jean King was a key campaigner for equality in sport.

Hidden Figures - The compelling story of a team of female African American mathematicians who were vital in the NASA space program but who had to fight for their rights to be recognised as such.

Brave - An animated Disney classic and a great one to watch with younger kids. Princess Merida defies the customs and expectations of her showing true grit and determination throughout.

Suffragette - Directed by Sarah Gavron, the film centres on the growing suffragette movement featuring Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankhurst and Carey Mulligan as Maud Watts a working mother.

Wild - Rease Witherspoon stars in this biographical adventure of Cheryl Strayed’s 1,100 mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail which is not for the faint hearted while she tries to come to terms with the loss of her mother.

Let us know what you’ll be getting up to in the comments below. Whatever you do we hope you have a great day celebrating such an important cause.

Sign up here to be kept up to date on articles and of up coming events, including our mentoring programme which is coming soon. Our next event on the Menopause at Work: Leading Positive Change is happening on the 30th March, find out more HERE.

Written by Helen Sandford-Taylor

Co-Founder of Nonpareil Network

Helen is an ILM 7 Executive Coach and Strategy Consultant. She runs her own consultancy, helping organisations and businesses develop strategies to differentiate themselves and grow successfully. She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management.