Celebrate Women’s Equality Day at Work! [Tips+Ideas]

Many U.S.-based teams celebrate Women’s Equality Day to support equity and diversity as part of their company culture. It’s not only a way to show how your teams support women, but it creates a more inclusive and safe work environment for everyone.

It's been over 100 years since women in the U.S. finally won the right to vote and about 50 years since American women could have their own credit cards. Yet despite the strides women have made in the fight for gender equality, there’s still more work to do.

For instance, women provide the majority of informal care at home. On average, women in the U.S. account for 60% of unpaid caregivers for seniors, not to mention 82% of women leading childcare in their house.

A majority of women lead household maintenance and tasks with 58% maintaining laundry and 51% managing cleaning and cooking.

Women’s Equality Day is a time to honor these daily and extraordinary contributions of women.

This Women's Equality Day, let’s celebrate the incredible progress made, but also pause to reflect on where we still have room to grow.

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Ignite your team's passion for equality and create an inclusive workplace culture that everyone can be proud of. Dive in now and start making a difference!

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What date is Women's Equality Day?

In 1973, U.S. Congress named August 26th as “Women's Equality Day” to commemorate the certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. Be sure to mark these dates in your HR calendar:

• Women’s Equality Day is Monday, August 26, 2024
• Women’s Equality Day is Tuesday, August 26, 2025
• Women’s Equality Day is Wednesday, August 26, 2026
• Women’s Equality Day is Thursday, August 26, 2027

A Brief History of Women's Equality Day

Women's Equality Day is a U.S.-wide celebration honoring the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution on August 26th, 1920, which states:

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

The Women’s Suffrage Movement organized and fought for more than 30 years for this civil right, kicking off organizing with its first-ever women’s rights conference in 1848 called the Seneca Falls Convention.

Even after the 19th Amendment passed, there were depressing caveats. The new law did not provide complete voting rights to African American, Asian American, Hispanic-American, and Native-American women. In fact, it wasn't until the passing of The Voting Rights Act of 1965 that all women regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity, were given the right to have a voice in their government— the right to vote.

Today, Women's Equality Day represents an ongoing battle against more contemporary but no less impactful efforts to disenfranchise women. This can mean benefits at work, the gender pay gap, and leadership demographics.

Women’s Equality Day stands proudly alongside other year-round DEI initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion for other marginalized groups across the DEI spectrum, including improving trans visibility and enfranchising minority religious groups to explore their faith in safety.

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Why Celebrating Women's Equality Day at Work is Important

Even a hundred years after the passing of the 19th Amendment, there is still gender bias and pervasive, sexist cultures at play in work and wider society.

From the ever-present Gender Pay Gap to increased reports of sexual harassment and sexism at work, not to mention women’s healthcare impacted by the overturning of the Roe Vs. Wade case law and various legislation impacting the Trans community —  Women's Equality Day is a time to step back and understand women’s history and the impact of women in the country.

Without knowing our pasts, we can’t move forward and we grow.

McKinsey reports that gender diversity on executive teams are 25% more likely to have higher profitability and companies with more than 30% women executives outperform those that do not.

And almost 90% of women-led businesses achieve high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores.

So, with that in mind, how do we celebrate Women’s Equality Day at work? Scroll down.

6 Ways to Celebrate Women's Equality Day

Of course, the best way to celebrate Women's Equality Day is to take action! Commit to resources, activities, values, and efforts to improve opportunities for women and create lasting support systems with room for them to thrive.

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1. Women’s Professional Development & Networking Resources

Support your staff by providing connections to support groups and professional empowerment groups in their industry, niche, or interest.

Help your people by connecting them to mentorship opportunities with women leaders, ERGs, or external communities.

Consider sectors like Finance where women are still a large minority in boardrooms and on staff. In 2023, numerous professional networks exist explicitly to help support and celebrate Women, such as the Financial Women's Association, Women's Bond Club, and 100 Women In Finance.

By giving employees the chance to join professional networks and celebrate the work done by women in your industry, you're doing the necessary work of raising awareness and allowing team members to engage in professional communities that make a difference.

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2. Track DEIB Metrics

One of the most effective ways to ensure that gender equality is celebrated and amplified within the workplace is by understanding your DEIB Metrics.

We mean taking an honest audit of your staff, and understanding gender parity and pay parity throughout the organization, looking over roles and departments. By having this level of knowledge, you can make informed decisions on where to focus DEIB initiatives and create internal policies that can help celebrate diversity and challenge any inequality or gender discrimination practices that may be in place.

3. Start a Women-first Mentorship Program

For Women's Equality Day, why not consider creating a "Women-First" mentoring program?

This can be anything from an internal one-on-one/group mentorship scheme to allow women employees to engage with more senior women leaders in their field and areas of interest.

As anyone who has benefited from a mentor knows, mentoring goes beyond professional support or networking opportunities - it can profoundly impact self-expression, confidence, career growth, and L&D pathways, and is a real-world, tangible positive for women employees.

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4. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

Internal advocacy can also be well represented in allowing Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). ERGs empower employees, enhance team-wide cultural awareness, elevate employee engagement, and broaden individual perspectives.

ERGs help raise awareness and help your team get a clear the impact your organization’s policies or practices impact demographics in your teams.

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5. Next Generation Pathways

An effective and very tangible way to impact opportunities for women in the workplace is by offering internships to young women and girls straight out of mandated education, especially in sectors where women are underrepresented, like in Tech, Finance, and Logistics.

In the STEM sector, for example, many tech companies are taking this on - consider STEM for Women, the work Nasa or Fermi are doing on helping Women into STEM-focused career paths.

This not only shows a willingness to commit resources to help young women with their career development, but it also shows a focus on improving diversity in your sector from the ground up, supporting career pathways, and encouraging young professionals to learn and develop in work.

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6. Look for local opportunities to support women in the community

It's not enough to create DEIB policies and initiatives behind closed doors. For Women's Equality Day, empower your staff to work with local nonprofits or organizations that support women.

Women’s shelters are always looking donations or you can partner with a women-in-business accelerator program. You can also fund scholarships for Women's education in your area or industry. Or support international refugee charities that help empower women across the globe.

These are meaningful ways to show your employees that you care about and are committed to the empowerment of women more broadly.

Celebrate your people through rewards, recognition, and honest dialogue about their experiences. Consider hosting internal events that showcase the achievements of women in your organization, from team and individual awards to gender-focused 'ted talk' style seminars with external experts from women-owned businesses, inspiring women in your organization to share their stories.

It goes without saying that your people are your community, and empowering them empowers all of us.

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Women’s Equality Day Starts with a Commitment to Change

At the end of the day, a commitment to celebrate women’s equality means a commitment to change. This can be most acutely demonstrated by Gender Pay Gap reporting for equal pay.

According to Pew Research, the Gender Pay Gap persists, even with wide press coverage and a commitment to reporting across many of the world's largest companies. This can be down to a few things, but none more demoralizing than the fact many companies simply aren't reporting their Gender Pay disparities.

However, every baby step forward is a commitment to change. Take a look at your data, get honest with yourself, and commit to real, measurable changes, whether that's hiring more women of color in leadership positions or creating incentives for women to stay in higher-paying roles - it makes a difference.

Final Thoughts

Celebrate the work of your teams, consider internal advocacy initiatives, open professional networking opportunities, and commit to real-world pay gap reporting for a commitment to tangible change that can make a real difference in the equal rights of women at work.

Ready to start your commitment to change? Book a demo with Cooleaf, the all-in-one experience platform, to learn more about how we can help recognize, reward, and empower your teams this Women's Equality Day.

Let's work together to create an experience that celebrates all employees, encourages collaboration, and drives lasting change.

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