Compiled by ACCP Staff
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day recognizing and celebrating women and girls and marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. To commemorate, we have included below some resources you may find helpful.
We also wanted to take this time to highlight just a few of the amazing women in the CSR field to find out what inspires them. We asked the women of our ACCP Executive Network – as well as our ACCP staff – to share a favorite quote by a woman.
Here are a few for your inspiration:
From Sona Khosla, Benevity: “Love in action is always about service…” – bell hooks
From Heather Nestle, New York Life: “Dear God,” she prayed, “let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry…have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well-dressed. Let me be sincere – be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost.” ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
From Kara DiGiacomo, Akamai Foundation: “When you speak your truth, on the other side of that fear is freedom.” – Allyson Felix, Olympic track and field star
Jenn Kovacs, MiTek: “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then you are an excellent leader.” – Dolly Parton
From Rita Breen, Southern Company: “I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” – Maya Angelou
From Sharon Vidal, Illumina: “Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.” – Unknown
From Sandy Pierantoni, LKQ Corporation: “I would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do what she wanted to do, and as someone who took risks along the way to achieve her goals. All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary. There are three secrets to success, however: Be willing to learn new things. Be able to assimilate new information quickly. And be able to get along and work with other people.” – Sally Ride, NASA Astronaut
From Leah Herman, Parker Hannifin: “Don’t think about making women fit the world – think about making the world fit women.” – Gloria Steinem
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
From Joni Fitch, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.: “Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.” – Brene Brown
From Veena Jayadeva, Guardian Life Insurance: “Every single person has something to offer, and every single person has connections to others.” – Susan McPherson, CSR expert
From Julie Bauer, Alliant Energy:
“It never hurts to ask.” – a wise and special woman, my mom
“If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.” – Maya Angelou
From Lorna Wisham, FirstEnergy Corporation: “Service is the rent we pay for being.” – Marian Wright Edelman
From Robin Boggs, Accenture: “Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be broken.” – my mom
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg
From Jennifer Nickerson, City National Bank – Ten things a woman should stop wearing after the age of 40. #1-10: The weight of other people’s judgments and expectations. Though honestly, why wait until 40?
From Eileen Buckley, Stryker:
“You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” – Nora Ephron
“If you don’t see a clear path for what you want, sometimes you have to make it yourself.” – Mindy Kaling
From Anita Whitehead, KPMG: “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” – Dolly Parton
From Cherisa Murphy, Aetna: “Don’t mistake your presence for the event.” – Angela Bassett
From Jenn Rivera, Moody’s Foundation: “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” – Maya Angelou
From Stephanie Ghertner, Darden Restaurants: “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall
From Molly Porter, Wells Fargo: “There are no bystanders in life […] Our humanity makes us each a part of something greater than ourselves.” – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor
From Dori Kreiger, CTIA Wireless Foundation: “There is always light, if only you are brave enough to see it. If only you are brave enough to be it.” – Amanda Gorman
And from the ACCP staff:
- “Sometimes you’ve got to put on your big girl boots and prove that you can use the pointy end” – Leigh Stanley, Curly Girl Designs
- “If you ever forget how much is possible, consider that inside every acorn is the possibility of an oak tree” – Leigh Stanley, Curly Girl Designs
- “I am fairly certain that given a cape and a nice tiara, I could save the world” – Leigh Stanley, Curly Girl Designs
“As for me, my little light just may set the world on fire” – Leigh Stanley, Curly Girl Designs - I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou
- “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou
- “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller
- “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
- “Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai
- “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
- “It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light” – Evelyn Dunbar, artist
- “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.” – Oprah Winfrey
Resources:
United Nations Observance of IWD
The United Nations Observance of International Women’s Day under the theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, will be marked by a high-level event on Wednesday, March 8, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. EST. The event will bring together technologists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and gender equality activists to provide an opportunity to highlight the role of all stakeholders in improving access to digital tools and be followed by a high-level panel discussion and musical performances.
March 9th webcast: Celebrate Women’s Empowerment with CARE, Grameen Foundation and Women for Women International
Progress on SDGs: The Gender Spotlight 2022
Benevity Resources for International Women’s Day
ACCP’s Advancing Equity 2022 Research – 80% of respondents indicated their CSR team was headed by a woman and 78% that their division head was a woman.
This International Women’s Day, we celebrate the many contributions women have made – and continue to make – to the field of corporate social impact, and to the communities in which they live and work.
