International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. At ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø, we are proud to support a wide range of women’s initiatives which advocate for gender equity and to support the next generation of women leaders.
We believe supporting women in the workplace is essential for our success. This International Women’s Day, we celebrate the progress that has already been made and explore ways to accelerate action towards gender equality.
International Women’s Day events
Each year we celebrate International Women’s Day with a series of events that bring together women and their allies to continue the important conversation around actions we can all take to promote greater gender equality.
This year we are delighted to welcome award winning international keynote speaker Fiona Buckley to help our colleagues identify their unique strengths, communicate their value effectively, and leverage their personal brand to create opportunities and drive their careers forward.
This is part of our Executive Speaker Series, with previous speakers including Former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, Lady Chanelle McCoy, co-founder of Chanelle Medical; and Glamour magazine editor Samantha Barry; among others.
We are also proud to partner to continue our sponsorship of the Institute of Directors (IOD) Northern Ireland Women's Leadership Conference.
Supporting women in ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø to thrive
Our Gender Action Plan
Our Gender Action Plan includes strategic supports aimed at getting more women into senior leadership positions.
It includes a series of life cycle support policies including fertility leave, surrogacy leave, early pregnancy loss leave, fostering leave, domestic abuse leave, and carer’s support leave, as well as emergency childcare support and a ramp up initiative, providing one day of paid leave for the first eight weeks after maternity leave, to support women as they transition back to work.
Connect@ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø
A key part of our Gender Action Plan is Connect@ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø, a peer mentorship initiative designed to help our women build their networks and develop their leadership skills.
To date, nearly two hundred women have completed the programme. We recently launched year three which will see another eighty women participate.
Supporting gender equity in the community
We are committed, not only to supporting women to thrive in ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø, but also in our community. Here are a few ways we are working towards greater gender equality in business, sport, and education.
- ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø is proud to support Going for Growth, an award-winning programme for ambitious female entrepreneurs determined to grow their business. In the latest cycle it welcomed it’s 1000th participant on the programme.
- ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø is a long-term supporter of women’s sport in Ireland and strives to create equality between men and women’s sport in Ireland, having previously supported the 20x20 campaign. We have sponsored Irish golfer Leona Maguire since she turned professional in 2018, and in March 2022, Irish Jockey Rachael Blackmore came on board with us as a brand ambassador. Most recently, we were delighted to welcome Irish sprinting sensation, Rhasidat Adeleke, as a ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø ambassador.
- ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø partnered with Children’s Books Ireland to support their BOLD GIRLS Initiative, creating innovative workshops based on women who changed history thus encouraging young girls to achieve their ambitions. The BOLD GIRLS workshops aim to break down societal barriers and to instil confidence in girls by showing them female characters in children’s books with passion, power and opinions.
