Happy Monday and International Women's Day! This day is aimed to help nations worldwide eliminate
discrimination against women and to help women achieve full and equal participation in global development.
IWD 2021 campaign theme: #ChooseToChallenge
A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.
We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.
From challenge comes change, so let's all choose to challenge!
The official day to celebrate is today, March 8!
We think it should be everyday!
JOIN US tonight to celebrate with WIN Cleveland and network with inspiring women in our communities!
Monday, March 8, 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. CST What is better than one fabulous community of women coming together?
TWO! Speed networking and think tank break outs with new connections and kindness!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pinkk-networking-event-international-womens-day-celebration-tickets-141204934761
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While there are numerous women throughout history that have challenged norms and stood up to societal pressure, and changed the world, we can’t possibly cover them all. Here are 12 global women and one bonus dear to me from 1700's to current day who all broke the mold decades - sometimes even centuries - before their time. CHEERS!
Maria Theresa of Austria (1717-1780)
In 1740, Maria Theresa inherited the rule of a country that was penniless and poorly governed. Though her father had ensured her succession, he had not educated her on matters of the state. She eventually chose her own advisers and deftly delegated responsibilities. She turned around the economy, revitalized the military, and instituted mandatory public education for both boys and girls in the country. She held onto her rule amidst 2 wars, and managed all this while still giving birth to 16 children.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
Perhaps best known for her work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Mary Wollstonecraft was anything but a traditional young English woman. She became an intellectual and a writer, and believed strongly that women should be educated as men. She took lovers and had a child out of wedlock when such things were scandalous, and her reputation was tarnished for decades. However, it is believed that her works strongly influenced writers like Jane Austin, and during the women’s suffrage movement of the late 1800’s her writings, particularly her ideas about educating women, became the backbone of the feminist movement.
Susan B. Anthony (1820 -1906)
An American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to social equality, she collected anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17. In 1856, she became the New York state agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1878, Anthony arranged for Congress to be presented with an amendment giving women the right to vote which it later became known colloquially as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment and was ratified as the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.
When she first began campaigning for women's rights, Anthony was harshly ridiculed and accused of trying to destroy the institution of marriage. She became the first actual woman to be depicted on U.S. coinage when her portrait appeared on the 1979 dollar coin.
Jane Addams (1860- 1935)
Known as the mother of social work, she was a pioneer American settlement activist/reformer, social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, public administrator,[ protestor, author, and leader in women's suffrage and world peace. She co-founded Chicago's Hull House, one of America's most famous settlement houses. In 1920 she was a co-founder for the ACLU.[7] In 1931 she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities.
Coco Chanel (1883-1971)
While a fashion icon may seem to be a trivial representation of a great female leader, (I would never say such a thing) Coco Chanel was remarkable in her forward thinking and indifference to societal expectations. Choosing to wear trousers and “men’s” clothing, she released women from corsets and other encumbering clothing, focusing on casual comfort instead, and revolutionizing women’ She challenged society on social level as well, choosing never to marry or have children, while publicly embracing intimate relationships with men on her own terms.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
Eleanor Roosevelt began her influential career when she was in her teens, becoming active in social work, before meeting her future husband. She was an early advocate of civil rights, and as First Lady of the United States, was independent and outspoken on the rights of women and African-American’s, long before the onset of the Civil Rights movement. She wrote a daily newspaper column that reached vast people, in which she defended women’s rights and other humanitarian causes. After her husband’s death, she continued working as a delegate to the UN, where she advocated for people, taking a non-partisan stance on most issues. She fought all her struggles, whether personal or political, with honesty and straightforwardness.
Indira Ghandi (1917-1984)
Though she is a controversial figure, Indira Ghandi is a stunning example of a woman who managed to gain power in a time and place where women were generally treated badly. Groomed for the position by her father, she became the first, and only, female prime minister of India. She took a very troubled country in dire straits and turned around the government and the economy. She was also a strong advocate for women’s rights, and helped to advance India on the international stage. Unfortunately, she was assassinated by two of her own bodyguards in 1984, in response to an attack on a Sikh temple by Indian forces while trying to remove a political opponent.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg (1933-2020)
Another sad loss in 2020, Ruth Bader Ginsberg was one of the most influential women in modern history. Being one of the first women ever to enroll at Harvard Law School, she had a prestigious academic career before she went on to argue cases for women’s rights that have helped to try and level the playing field for women. She has fought against gender discrimination every step of the way, and did so with powerful kindness from her esteemed seat on the United States Supreme Court. She will be missed.
Oprah Winfrey (1954-)
With the longest running daytime talk show on television, broadcast in 145 countries around the world, it’s easy to recount the leadership of this incredible woman. Beginning her life in poverty, she went on to become the single wealthiest African-American, and has in turn dedicated herself to trying to lift others out of poverty as well. She established the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, and invested over $40 million of her own money in the project.
Kamala D. Harris (1964 - )
Kamala D. Harris is the Vice President of the United States of America. She was elected Vice President after a lifetime of public service, having been elected District Attorney of San Francisco, California Attorney General, and United States Senator.
Vice President Harris was born in Oakland, California to parents who emigrated from India and Jamaica. She graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of Law.
“My mother would look at me and she’d say, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last.’”
Vice President Harris and her sister, Maya Harris, were primarily raised and inspired by their mother, Shyamala Gopalan. Gopalan, a breast cancer scientist and pioneer in her own right, received her doctorate the same year Vice President Harris was born.
Her parents were activists, instilling Vice President Harris with a strong sense of justice. They brought her to civil rights demonstrations and introduced role models—ranging from Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to civil rights leader Constance Baker Motley—whose work motivated her to become a prosecutor.
Growing up, Vice President Harris was surrounded by a diverse community and extended family. In 2014, she married Doug Emhoff. They have a large blended family that includes their children, Ella and Cole.
Throughout her career, the Vice President has been guided by the words she spoke the first time she stood up in court: Kamala Harris, for the people.
Malala Yousafzai (1997- )
Amanda S. C. Gorman (1998 -)
Gorman was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1998.[She was raised by her single mother, Joan Wicks, a 6th-grade English teacher in Watts, with her two siblings. She has a twin sister, Gabrielle, who is an activist and filmmaker. Gorman has said she grew up in an environment with limited television access. She has described her young self as a "weird child" who enjoyed reading and writing and was encouraged by her mother.
AND ONE BONUS
Alma M. McCoy 1915- 2018 (BONUS ROUND)
A self-made and self - taught creator and business women ahead of her time. With no training, no Social Media, advertising, no staff, no education, no loans, no resources she started her own wedding cake business in the 1950’s all done out of her tiny kitchen in Pottstown, Illinois - and did so for over 45 years very successfully attracting clients in Chicago and beyond. She also is a survivor of domestic abuse.
If you want to do something just do it and do it well! YEP. Best. Grandma. Ever.
Miss her every day. Legendary. She will always be a hero to me.
