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NKD Connect: International Women’s Day 2021 – Choose to Challenge

March 8th was International Women’s Day, this year we chose to spend some time with 4 of the inspirational women in our network to explore how they’re choosing to challenge sexism and inequality.

NKD Connect: International Women’s Day 2021

#ChoosetoChallenge

March 8th was International Women’s Day, a day in which we celebrate the achievement of women, raise awareness against gender bias and take action for equality. This year’s  theme was #ChooseToChallenge, a powerful call to action, because ‘a challenged world, is an alert world, and from challenge comes change’. 

This year we chose to spend some time with some of the inspirational women in our network to explore how they’re choosing to challenge sexism and inequality. We were lucky enough to sit down with Linda Moir, Customer Experience Expert, Ella Bennet, Head of People at easyJet, Regine Buettner, Global Head of HR DHL Express, Madawi Al-Rasheed, Visting professor at LSE and Fellow of The British Academy, and we rounded it off with our very own Sue Stoneman, CEO and Founder of NKD

It was amazing to learn more about each of these inspirational women on a personal and an organisational level. We covered a series of topics around the International Women’s Day themes of: bias, making change and celebrating women. And along the way we uncovered some great personal insights from each interviewee. From finding out how DHL Express, the world’s biggest employer are tackling inequality head on, to how easyJet are encouraging more women into the traditionally male dominated field of piloting, and how challenging our unconscious bias can begin at home with how we raise our children.

A week of amazing interviews

We kicked the week off with Linda Moir and discussed her passion for equality, the types of bias (conscious or unconscious) she still sees today, what she is doing to take action to establish equality, and she shared why Serena Williams is such an inspiration to her… 

Next up we had Ella Bennet. We explored the importance of gender equality across senior roles within easyJet through the Amy Johnson Initiative – an effort to improve the gender balance in the pilot community and the amazing work The Roundhouse do to with young people in the community. 

Regine Buettner took us through the amazing initiatives DHL Express are incorporating into their organisation to tackle inequality head on, the power of diversity and the importance of equal rights within an organisation. 

The inspirational Madawi Al-Rasheed discussed the restrictions imposed on women in her home country, Saudi Arabia, establishing a political party which stands for democracy and gender equality, as well as how business leaders need to consider and address the laws of the countries they are investing capital in.

To wrap things up, on Friday we sat down with Sue Stoneman, CEO and Founder of NKD to discuss why each of the 4 women chosen for the interviews are so special to her, and how they individually influence and inspire her. We also spoke about Sue’s drive to fight inequality, the inspiring work she does with the Princes Trust and the focus on Diversity and Inclusion solutions being developed at NKD.

To watch all the interviews in the series, click here: International Women’s Day 2021

If you want to chat about your Diversity and Inclusion strategy for 2021, hit the connect button below. Or why not check out our blog on how to approach conversations on Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace.