An Inspiring International Women’s Day With The W.O! 💪

Wow! Wednesday was officially brilliant! Firstly we’d just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who got involved with all that we were up to on our favourite day of the year…International Women’s Day! Here’s what we got up to…

During the day, amidst all of the excitement that we were witnessing on social media, we had our own fun in the offices and asked the team what they ‘Be Bold For’ honouring IWD17’s campaign hashtag for the year. We had some great responses including ‘I will be bold for empowering and inspiring women’ and ‘I will be bold for others who can’t’ – Check out the rest over on our Instagram!

We also joined the Women’s Equality Party on the steps of St George’s Hall to clutch a ‘big cheque’ made out for £23.7 billion to the ‘North West Economy’ – which represented the amount that could be added to the region’s economy if women were able to work the hours they wanted to, at the same rate of pay as men. Take a look at what Tabitha Morton, the Women’s Equality Party candidate for Liverpool’s Metro Mayor has to say on this issue here.

Elsewhere, some of the team were out representing the The W.O around the city. Our trainer, Alison Blackhurst, headed over to commercial law firm, DWF to speak on 2017's International Women's Day theme, be bold for change! The Women's Organisation were pleased to recently become recipients of a DWF Foundation grant to widen women's participation in enterprising activity in the city region, and this event helped to launch the programme for the coming year which will see a range of industry specific workshops offered to those thinking about starting a business.

Alison hosted a proactive discussion to think about what it means to be bold and just how exactly we can be bold. Following this, DWF made a 'bold wall' where students could make their pledges for the future, pledges included;

"I am going to try and battle my anxiety with a councillor"
"I want to use my social media to spread positivity and challenge inequality"  
"Learn how to drive a car to give me better opportunities"
"I am going to qualify as a solicitor"
"Get a teacher degree"
"Do volunteer work"
"become more confident"

Feedback included "You were so inspiring and the interactive element definitely helped!" and "it was lovely to see the girls engaging and putting up some really personal and admirable goals onto the bold action wall!" - Thank you to DWF for hosting us! 

And in the evening – it was our big event! We were looking forward to welcoming over 50 women to 54 St James Street to celebrate International Women’s Day and hear from a panel of inspiring women. The event was fantastic, the panel (Irene Afful, Helen Lord and Rebecca Jones) shared with us their stories of success and were honest and open about the difficulties that they had faced and how they overcame them. Our host; Pamela Ball was incredible as usual and it a great discussion opened up.

Bernie Cox, Caroline Mitchell from UoL, Pamela Ball and Rebecca Jones

A full room of amazing women! 

Rebecca Jones, Helen Lord and Irene Afful

We had some fantastic feedback too!

‘It’s so amazing to be surrounded by so many inspiring women. You can feel the positivity in the room. Thank you The Women’s Org!’

‘It was my first time at The Women’s Organisation and I’ve got to say the enthusiasm, confidence and vibe in the room was amazing. Great things happen when the right people get together.’

‘What an inspiring evening! Couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate International Women’s Day, than here at The Women’s Org.’

So overall, what a success! We always do have a fantastic time on International Women’s Day, but this year felt particularly special and important! 

We’d like to say a massive thank you to our event sponsors; University of Liverpool Management School, our panel and host and everyone who joined us to celebrate – You’re all fantastic!