As luck would have it I got spend International Women's Day at IFAI's Women in Textiles Summit in Savannah where 55 women came together to tell their stories. I can't quit thinking about it!
I sent a quick email to all AAPN women last Friday morning to let them know where I was and quickly received the following emails on other celebrations going on. Keep reading ...
From Elisa Torres, G C Moore El Salvador plant:
On this day we celebrate all the strong, intelligent and extraordinary women that are part of the GCM family. We were honored to have Patricia Figueroa, Executive Director of CAMTEX, as our special guest on this day during which she shared with our associates her experience in helping build and strengthen the textile and apparel industry in El Salvador. Learning more about her personal and professional challenges and accomplishments, in addition to being inspiring, also allowed our associates to learn about the history and the economic and social impact of our industry within El Salvador.
From Linda Tiberi, UA Panama:
Today at UA Panama we are celebrating International Women's Day by doing a give back.
In December last year we kicked off a culture pillar call W.I.L.L (women inspiring leading and learning). We have several different culture pillars in Baltimore but this is the first one that has gone international, and we started it here in Panama. Our inaugural event was a coaching session with a woman that spoke to us about how to Brand Ourself. Today there is a group of our teammates passing on that knowledge to 20 girls from a local orphanage, ages 11-18. We were introduced to them through a group called Movement Exchange; inspiring young girls through dance. The girls are so full of energy and enthusiasm and are inspiring us with their goals of wanting to be doctors or nurses, police women and veterinarians. One girl is so driven she wants to be a lawyer AND a ballerina. Zentrix (AAPN member) donated leggings and sports bras for us to share with the girls. They do performances and often have to wear jeans because they cannot afford to buy leggings. After the ice breaker warm up each girl was given a lanyard with a badge, like what we get at the conferences. When their name was called you would have though they had just won an Oscar award; all of them cheering on each other. I truly believe that we get as much or more from a give back event than the people we are hoping to help. It’s been an amazing Friday morning and an even better International Women’s Day
I also want to share the closing speaker at last week's Summit with all of you --- Sarah Moshman is an Emmy Award Winning Documentary Film-Maker and she spoke about her life's journey. I hope you can watch 2 of her documentaries --- The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things (available on Amazon) and Losing Sight of Shore (on Netflix) about 4 women who rowed across the Pacific Ocean. I plan on watching them both this afternoon. Here's a trailer for the latter to whet your appetite.
And remember, you don't have to wait until next year's International Women's Day to celebrate the women in your life.
My Best, Sue