Reflecting a strong commitment to the advancement of women in the workplace, Accenture hosted a series of celebrations to mark International Women’s Day on March 8. A global webcast, a motivating keynote speech, and events in many locations around the world brought together more than 6,000 Accenture people and clients to highlight the many ways that women influence and shape the business world.
The event—themed Celebrating, Inspiring and Empowering—provided a venue for networking and visibility with clients and company leaders. The various activities were designed to raise awareness of issues facing women in the workplace and beyond while celebrating their innovations and contributions, showcasing successful Accenture women and empowering participants by honing the skills that can contribute to their success.
“At Accenture, International Women’s Day is about helping all our people from all the countries where we do business- women and men alike- to realize their full potential and talent,” said Armelle Carminati, managing director-Human Capital & Diversity. “Bringing so many people together to share ideas shows firsthand the power unleashed by an inclusive and diverse workforce.”
The day’s events included a video featuring Chairman & CEO William D. Green reinforcing Accenture’s commitment to inclusion and diversity, as well as a discussion facilitated by Carminati with the event’s keynote speaker, Gail Evans. Evans is a former CNN executive vice president and author of the best-selling book Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman—one of the most successful and influential books about women in the workplace.
Evans encouraged participants to look at how they “play the game,” offering practical advice and counseling participants to “think about things like networking and mentoring in new kinds of ways—ways which are comfortable and very much part of who we are as women.”
Accenture people around the world also had a chance to view a live global webcast featuring a panel of senior women leaders and to submit questions for the panel to debate.
Live International Women’s Day events took place in Atlanta, Bangalore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Dublin, Frankfurt, Houston, Madrid, Milan, Minneapolis, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, Washington, D.C. and Toronto. Each event featured a variety of topics and speakers.
In Tokyo, speakers included Japan House of Representatives member Mayumi Moriyam and Microsoft executive Yoshie Tsakamoto. Sydney’s keynote speaker was Sue Murray, general manager for the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia. Among the speakers in Madrid were Carmen Cavera, an executive with Morgan Stanley; Natalia Garzón, an executive with RENFE, the Spanish national railway network; and Francisco Gay, a professor at the IESE Business School at Spain’s University of Navarra.
The London event offered an impressive group of guests. Keynote speaker was Debra Searle, who rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean in a 23-foot plywood boat. Kate Adie, journalist, former BBC chief news reporter and Member the Order of the British Empire, spoke about “A Personal Journal: Life & Times, Coping With Adversity, and Current Affairs.” There were other powerful success stories from Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb from Artichoke Productions, who spoke on “Four Glorious Days in May—Influencing and Getting Where you Want to Be.”
First observed in 1909, International Women’s Day is an annual event sponsored by the United Nations; in some countries, it is designated as a national holiday. It is marked by organizations and women’s groups around the world to celebrate advances in equality, justice and development.