International Women’s Day 2025 - For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.
- KP
- Mar 8
- 2 min read
This International Women’s Day is different. This year, there has been an onslaught of anti-DEI rollbacks, hitting every sector from government to large corporations that had previously promoted their commitments. And this year’s theme, “For All Women and Girls: Rights, Equality. Empowerment” by accelerating action, is now more important than ever.
It is also the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, where former Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton said “Women’s rights are human rights, once and for all”. Yet 30 years on, it will still take until 2158 to achieve full gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum. In business, the situation is not much better; according to McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace report, it will take 50 years for women in leadership to reach parity with men. And that was before all of the recent retractions on DEI programs.
Now, the duty falls to us, the people, to re-commit ourselves to upholding common decency and respect for diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s not just about women, it’s about everyone, no matter your gender, ethnicity, or creed. As Bern Datka recently said on The Feminist Exec podcast, “DEI is for everyone”. We have the responsibility to do the right thing for our mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, colleagues, and ourselves by focusing and acting on making real change.
2025 has been a year of action for me. I no longer am waiting for someone else to make a policy, invest in an initiative, or start a program that will help women. I have to do something about it myself. That’s not to say what I had been doing before (writing, participating in women’s groups, supporting women at work) wasn’t important, it was. It just isn’t enough anymore.
Here are the ways that I am committing to #AccelerateAction for International Women’s Day, every day:
Founded The Feminist Exec, a community telling women’s stories and sharing resources for women in and aspiring to be in leadership.
Guest lectures at a local college focused on empowering young women and teaching young men how to be allies.
Hosting and participating in STEM day for a group of high school girls in the Boston area through Mass Robotics and Locus Robotics.
Donating on a monthly basis to Human Rights First and the Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism.
And I’m just getting started…
Now is the time to double down and accelerate action towards equality, rights and empowerment for all women and girls.
What are some ways you are supporting all women and girls? Share your ideas in the comments.
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