How to show your support for International Women’s Day as an event organiser in 2023 & beyond

International Women’s Day 2023 might already be on your radar as an event organiser. Or… maybe you haven’t quite got your ducks in a row yet. Don’t worry – it really is never too late to get stuck in learning, and planning ways to support gender equality. While IWD has a date in the calendar (8th March 2023), it’s far from a one-day event. Taking strides to forge a gender equal world is a year-round, long term commitment, with IWD being a crucial focal point at the centre of this.

So, how do you get involved as an event organiser? If you haven’t already, it’s well worth taking a good look around the IWD website as a starter for ten. There are tons of brilliant articles to read, imperative research to discover, and ideas for how both businesses and individuals can do their bit.

Below is a teeny snapshot of some of the many stark facts and statistics that can be found across the site: 

• Less than 20% of the world's landholders are women.
• Slavery disproportionately affects women and girls, who make up 71% of total victims. 
• 74% of C-suite positions in the USA are held by men. 
• At the current rate of progress, it will take 132 years to fully close the gender pay gap.

Feel that fire in your belly burning? Us too. Read on for some impactful ways, both big and small, that you can support IWD through your events. 

Set out a plan for partnering with and leveraging women

As an event organiser, you have the power to create opportunities for –  and give a voice to – women. It’s not ok to fall back on the excuse that there are ‘just more men’ in a certain area – say, comedy, technology, or a specific genre of music. We need to seek out, and create opportunities for women in order to level the playing field.

Some ideas of how to do this as an event organiser include:

• Partnering with women influencers (this can be especially powerful in a particularly male-dominated field)
• Creating incredible events with women-only line-ups
• Creating a event planning committee headed up by women, for women
• Actively seeking ways to make sure your event line-ups aren’t male-dominated as a matter of course.

Support relevant charities 

Partnering with relevant charities is always a fantastic way to support the cause of gender equality. Whether you run fundraiser events or make it possible for attendees to donate at the point of ticket sale for your usual events – every little really does help. The IWD charities of choice are:

• World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS)
• Catalyst

Looking for an event ticketing platform for fundraisers? Ticket Tailor is 100% free to use for free events, and we just charge a small flat fee per ticket for paid-for events. Also, we’re a B-Corp company, so you know your event’s in ethical hands.

Recognise the women in your teams 

This International Women’s Day, make sure the incredible women in your teams get the appreciation they deserve. Give them social media shout-outs, talk about their achievements, celebrate them in whatever way you see fit! 🎉

Push out an official statement in support of IWD

Make your support of IWD that bit more official by pushing out a carefully considered statement that covers things like:

• Why IWD is important to your events business
• Your personal stance on the fight for gender equality
• What you do and plan on doing to support IWD as an events business 
• Why you think it’s important to speak up in support of IWD

Join in with #EmbraceEquity on social media

This year, the IWD theme is Embrace Equity, and the initiative invites anyone and everyone to share their support on social media using the hashtag #EmbraceEquity. People are posting photos of themselves with their arms wrapped around their shoulders (i.e. giving themself an embrace! 🤗), while others are sharing their thoughts, work, and IWD-relevant actions using the hashtag. Keep the conversation flowing by participating and encouraging your attendees to take part, too – you could even set up an #EmbraceEquity photo stand at your upcoming events!  

Create a written commitment for how you’ll support IWD going forwards

Creating an official, written document detailing your commitment to supporting gender equality through your events can help hold you accountable and spur you on to stick to your good intentions. 

It could be as simple as writing up a mission statement, or adding some new IWD-inspired values to your brand identity. Or it could be more practical, such as committing to putting on a certain number of women-focused events over the next year. 

Whichever route you go down, putting pen to paper helps solidify your intentions, and gives you something clear to work towards, too.

Choosing to help in the fight for gender equality through your events is a really commendable action. It can feel overwhelming at first, but the fact you’re here, trying to figure out what you can do to show support means more than you’ll probably ever realise! Here’s to embracing equity – now, forever and always.