In recognition of International Women’s Day, our Women’s Forum held many exciting initiatives throughout the week to celebrate the women in our lives. The theme for this year is #EmbraceEquity. This theme aims to highlight the need for society to embrace equity as a core value in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
See below for a summary of activities we held this week:
Internal International Women’s Day Event
We hosted an internal event to recognize the achievements of the women of Alexander Holburn. The morning started with a breakfast buffet and champagne toast followed by a game trivia themed around the women at Alexander Holburn, IWD and more!
50/50 Fundraiser
We held a firm wide 50/50 raffle, and the winner had the opportunity to donate half of the funds to one of our sponsored charities of their choice: Girls Who Leap, Habitat for Humanity or KidSafe Project Society.
CCDI Webinar Livestream
On March 9th our Ascend team live streamed the CCDI’s webinar on “International Women’s Day: Feminism is for Everyone.” Veronika Ilich and Jeff Perera presented on the topic of modern-day feminism, what it means to be a feminist and who can be a feminist.
Women’s Forum Committee Book Picks
Each day from March 6-10, we dropped our “Women’s Forum Committee Picks”. These are books with a message about female empowerment or feminism that members of our committee have read, loved, and recommend and firm members had an opportunity to enter to win the book of the day.
 |
A mother-son love story for feminists who hope to change the world, one kind boy at a time.
“Informed by Jha’s work as a professor of journalism specializing in social justice movements and social media, as well as by conversations with psychologists, experts, other parents and boys–and through powerful stories from her own life-How to Raise a Feminist Son shows us all how to be better feminists and better teachers of the next generation of men” – Excerpt from review by Rebecca Solnit, author of The Mother of All Questions |
 |
The acclaimed debut novel by the author of Little Fires Everywhere and Our Missing Hearts
A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another. |
 |
Bertha Wilson and Claire L’Heureux-Dubé were the first women judges on the Supreme Court of Canada.
Constance Backhouse’s compelling narrative explores the sexist roadblocks both women faced in education, law practice, and in the courts. She profiles their different ways of coping, their landmark decisions for women’s rights, and their less stellar records on race. |
 |
A ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged, and utterly original exploration of Asian American consciousness.
The book contains a collection of essays which explore Asian-American identity and the Asian-American experience of racism and oppression through the lens of history and the author’s own personal stories. |
 |
A debut from Melinda French Gates, a timely and necessary call to action for women’s empowerment.
For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, you need to stop keeping women down. Using compelling data she illustrates issues that urgently need our attention. |
International Womens Day
The focus of International Women’s Day is on creating a world where women have equal opportunities, access to education, healthcare, and other resources, and where they can participate fully in decision-making processes. The theme encourages individuals, organizations, and governments to work towards building a more equitable society, free from discrimination and bias.
For further information on 2023 International Womens Day and the #EmbraceEquity theme, click here.
Subscribe to RSS Feed