For over 100 years, International Women’s Day has signposted the way for celebrating women’s achievements and enabling positive change around women’s rights and equality.    

Held on 8th March, this year’s theme is embracing equity. Here at Hire Space, we believe that a focus on gender equity needs to be part of every society’s DNA. Equity isn’t just a nice to have, it’s an absolute must-have, and it’s important that we challenge issues faced by women around the world every single day. The IWD 2023 campaign theme drives worldwide understanding of why equal opportunities aren’t enough!

We’ve listed a few ideas on how you and the women in your life can celebrate below.

1. Bring your team together

Run a coffee morning

Bring the whole office into the conversation and spend an hour or so away from your emails. Run a coffee morning where you discuss feminist icons in history, your favourite books around gender equality, or even just come together for a chat around gender equality and share your personal experiences. You could even send out some goodies to accompany the celebrations, whether that’s cupcakes or cocktails or anything in between.

Recognise your achievements

You could also run a session where you focus on each woman on your team and highlight her personal and professional achievements to the rest of the team. It’s really important to acknowledge and celebrate women in the workplace for what they contribute, which will not only empower them but also bring about more awareness to any barriers they may face. It’s all about bringing achievements to light and enabling positive change.

Have some fun as a team

You could also celebrate IWD by taking part in a relaxed social team activity such as a meditation workshop, puppy yoga, or even a fun teambuilding activity like Sip and Paint centred around this year’s theme. Hire Space recently ran a Sip and Paint evening and it was a great way to let our hair down and bond as a team.

Browse our full range of suppliers to get some ideas flowing.

One of the best ways to get involved and make positive change is to listen to other women’s stories, experiences and insights about the world we live in and how we can move forward towards a more inclusive society. There are plenty of virtual events taking place around the world, as well as in-person get-togethers in local communities too. The IWD website posts lots of these events; find your local event here.

3. Show your support on social

Engage in the conversation on social media by posting using the hashtags #EmbraceEquity and #IWD2023. Comment, share, like, discuss and learn from women (and men) all over the world joining the celebration. Share your favourite books, podcasts, playlists or blogs around gender equality, get the conversation going and learn from each other.

The International Women’s Day organisation have created some great resources you can use on your channels, which you just download and make your own with quotes, pictures, logos or whatever you like. You can access the free resources here. You could also try out their #EmbraceEquity Selfie Cards, which will help start conversations and promote action, and join the selfie movement by taking a photo doing the IWD pose; this year’s is to give yourself an embrace to show solidarity.

4. Fundraise for a female-focused charity or organisation

Set your team a challenge on IWD to begin actively fundraising for female-focused charities across the world. You could choose 1 charity per quarter and run fundraising events and activities to support that charity such as sponsored runs, charity galas, talent shows, coffee mornings, raffles etc. Suggestions of charities include Women for Women International, Imkaan or Care International, but there are some incredible charities you could fundraise for all over the world, so do some research and brainstorm how your team could join in.

5. Tell the women in your life you love them!

Colleagues, friends, sisters, aunties, mums, grandmothers, daughters, cousins… whoever they are, tell them you appreciate them! This day is all about celebrating each other and building each other up, so tell the women in your life how proud you are to know them, and let’s spread some love.

Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them. – Ada Lovelace

6. Run an IWD movie evening

Invite the women in your life for an evening of snacks, drinks, and a relevant film or documentary around strong women, gender issues, or even just a film directed by a woman. The idea is to get you thinking and learning about gender inequality whilst enjoying some downtime and having some fun with your colleagues or friends. Some suggestions are ‘Hidden Figures’, ‘Hooligan Sparrow’ or ‘On The Basis Of Sex’.

7. Ask your CEO to submit an Influencer Statement

Executive leaders, CEOs and Chairpersons are all key figures in helping to drive positive change and creating more inclusive workplaces. Ask your CEO to submit an IWD 2023 Influencer Statement to demonstrate they stand in support and that they are committed to ensuring your workplace is constantly improving. You can read some examples here.

8. Bring men into the conversation

Feminism all too often gets a bad reputation, but the fact of the matter is that feminism is simply about making women equal to men. Nothing more, nothing less. Men are an important part of this goal, and it’s important to bring them on board so they can help mould attitudes and enforce positive change along the way. Involve men in your IWD celebrations and share with them the positive impact feminism can have, so that you’re all singing from the same hymn sheet and not creating any gender separation in your team.

9. Review your D&I policies

It’s great to celebrate on the day, but it’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind and take steps towards positive long-term change in your organisations and industries. Review your internal policies to ensure women are fairly represented across the board, whether that’s reviewing senior leadership positions or equal pay structures. You can read more about breaking the bias in the events industry in an article we wrote with Lauralee Whyte for IWD 2021, and learn more about promoting inclusion in the events industry in this article we wrote with Caitlin Kobrak from Event First Steps.

Happy IWD, ladies! You deserve it. If you’re interested in finding out more or want to start planning your International Women’s Day celebration, book a free consultation to get started.