Today marks International Women’s Day – a movement dedicated to creating a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination for all underrepresented groups. A world that’s diverse, equitable and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated.
The theme this year is ‘Embrace Equity’ – reinforcing the point that equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging requires equitable action.
Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.
Equity recognises that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
This year in recognition of International Women’s Day, we are running a series of activities throughout March to support Smart Works – a UK charity that exists to give women the confidence they need to reach their full potential, secure employment and change the trajectory of their lives.
Our activity started last week when members of Team NorthEdge participated in the Cycle for Smart Works challenge. Across the last week, the team of three managed to cycle a total of 300 miles in just seven days to raise money for the charity. We are continuing to collect donations throughout March on our Just Giving page, with any support and donations gratefully received.
We’re also calling on our team, portfolio and our network to donate clothes and time to Smart Works. We’re collecting clothing donations at our Manchester office throughout the month of March and will be spending time in the Manchester Smart Works centre over the next couple of months.
Finally, we’re hosting a networking event towards the end of the month, inviting inspirational women across our community to join us in recognition of International Women’s Day and to discuss how we can continue to drive positive change collectively.
As well as raising awareness for gender equality, International Women’s Day also encourages the need for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI&I) more broadly. At NorthEdge we are committed to enhancing diversity efforts across all underrepresented groups in our business and in our portfolio, because we recognise that having a diverse and equitable culture can lead to faster growth, productivity and innovation – ultimately creating more value for all stakeholders.
Click here to find out more about our approach to DE&I.