Sunday, March 8th is International Women’s Day; a global opportunity to tout the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.  This year, the theme is #EachForEqual and Poly is proud to be celebrating and highlighting the initiatives of our Women’s Leadership Group (WLG), one of the first employee resource groups developed here at Poly, focused on bringing people together to recognize, appreciate and honor our whole selves.  The Women’s Leadership Group is available to employees worldwide, and employees across all departments are getting engaged.

#EachforEqual

Barbara Imbert, Senior Manager of Corporate Strategy, is one of the founders of the group and shares what International Women’s Day means to her:

“IWD is about honoring the achievements of women throughout history and across the globe. On March 9th, the WLG at Poly will celebrate women from different cultures and background, which, is at the core of enabling gender parity and fostering women’s rights. I am particularly excited about this year’s theme ‘Each for Equal’ – a more equal world is an enabled world, where we can all make a difference to help create a more gender-equal world. We need new ways of thinking by women, for women to drive the change we want to see. And it is also about legacy. I am raising two young adults, an 18-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son, and I want to see a more equal and inclusive World for both of them.”

Employees globally are getting individually engaged. Estelle Jackson, Global diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Lead of People, Culture and Learning, was asked to go and talk about diversity and #EachForEqual as part of the schools IWD celebrations. She engaged with 8-year-olds and used RP to dial in Brazil, UK, Singapore, Germany, Poland, Singapore, Philippines and three sites in the UK to showcase how diverse our business is and how to talk to people in various countries using the power of tech.

Poly’s Women’s Leadership Group

At Poly, we are taking celebratory action to highlight International Women’s Day through our Women’s Leadership Group (WLG) . The Women’s Leadership Group was founded at Poly in the Fall of 2017 with the intent to provide an open forum that focuses on women’s development and success in the workplace with an emphasis on awareness, empowerment, and diversity among employees. Throughout the year, the Women’s Leadership Group hosts various events to add value to employees across the country. Every month we host a “Day in the Life” session where invite individual employees from around the world to share their personal stories and journeys at Poly.  The purpose of this is to highlight the many successful women in the company across all departments, to motivate and inspire each other, while building upon our internal networks.

Although our group’s initiatives run all year, the Poly WLG is celebrating throughout the entire month of March with various local and global activities our employees can take part in.

VIRTUAL SOCIAL LUNCHES

The week of March 9th, 2020, WLG will bring together Poly colleagues across the globe to celebrate through virtual social lunch sessions.  Remote teams will chat, share, and collaborate to celebrate International Women’s Day and the achievements of women who most inspire us.

SELF-DEVELOPMENT WEBINARS

To meet the needs of our global colleagues in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, WLG will offer the webinar “Build a Want-to Life” at three region-specific times. Cindy Villanueva, Poly’s Director of Brand and Creative Services, will explore how to reprioritize the “have-to’s” which deplete our energy and instead create a “want-to” life that maximizes our potential and is rich with meaning.

RECOGNITION AND GIVING

To further celebrate our Poly women, WLG is partnering with the Poly WOW recognition program to recognize and honor our colleagues. In addition, WLG encourages all our employees to access the Poly Benevity program which offers a variety of ways for Poly employees to support women’s organizations.

Supporting IWD Initiatives in Local Communities

Our Amsterdam office took a different approach and chose to work with Camfed – a pan-African movement to help educate girls in developing countries. Without the choice to write their own futures, their endless potential is wasted.  Several Poly offices in the USA and the UK are supporting Dress for Success which empowers women across the globe to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development of tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

In the UK, our teams have joined to help local communities and support International Women’s Day from a practical stand point and have teamed up with the charity, SmartWorks. SmartWorks is a UK charity that provides high quality interview clothes and interview training to unemployed women in need. They harness the power of clothes and confidence to allow a woman to be her best at a crucial moment in her life, giving her the confidence, the self-belief and the practical tools required to succeed at interview and transform her life. They make sure that our clients look fabulous, feel confident and have everything they need, from a winter coat to a pair of tights. Last year, we donated 10 large boxes to this initiative.

Actions > Words

No matter what you do, do something, take action. Women’s equality can’t wait. It’s going to take everyone to think and be inclusive – all the time, everywhere.

Diversity, inclusion, and belonging are key tenets of the Poly employee experience. For International Women’s Day 2020 and beyond, how will you support #EachForEqual?

#EachForEqual is the international theme for International Women’s Day www.internationalwomensday.com