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Women continue to face barriers to gender equality like a widening pay gap and the broken rung. There’s an urgent need to address women’s rights, for equality and equity to not be confined to paychecks, but extended to opportunity, representation, and the right to dream of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive world.
International Women’s Day (IWD) 2025 is just a few weeks away and this year’s theme is “Accelerate Action.” The United Nation’s theme, too, calls for action that ensures “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.

Despite the well-documented benefits of diverse leadership—ranging from improved profitability to stronger innovation—women continue to face barriers that keep them from realizing their full potential. Barriers like lack of flexibility, discriminatory pay scales, motherhood penalties, social attitudes, and so on, which are systemic and deep-rooted.
The theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) 2025 is ‘Accelerate Action’. Why the need to focus on this? Because “‘Accelerate Action’ emphasizes the importance of taking swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality. It calls for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres.”

Ageism, the stereotyping and discrimination against individuals or groups based on their age, is a pervasive issue in many workplaces. It can manifest in subtle ways, like assuming older workers can’t adapt to new technologies or that younger employees lack the necessary experience to lead important projects. These biases not only hurt individuals but also hamper organizational success by limiting access to valuable talent and perspectives.

For underestimated talent in particular, ERGs can be game-changers. They provide visibility and amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard in traditional corporate settings. With this, ERGs create a sense of community, where people from shared backgrounds and experiences find a welcoming space.

The foundation of an impactful DEI calendar lies in understanding the lived experiences of your employees. Focus group discussions offer a valuable opportunity to gain deep insights into the challenges and perspectives of your workforce. Gather employees’ perceptions about their experiences within and outside the workplace. Allow them to share their observations and incorporate digital formats to obtain thoughts anonymously.

Practicing empathy means putting yourself in your employees’ shoes. It involves listening without judgment, acknowledging emotions, and responding with compassion. When managers lead with empathy, they create a ripple effect throughout the organization, encouraging a more supportive and understanding workplace culture.

Infusing inclusion throughout the talent lifecycle is not a destination but a journey. It requires ongoing commitment, continuous learning, and a willingness to challenge the status quo.
Every small step towards inclusion can have a ripple effect throughout your organization. From the way you write a job description to how you celebrate team successes, every action is an opportunity to create a more inclusive workplace.

Leaders with high EQ are skilled at gathering diverse perspectives before making decisions. They can balance competing interests and find solutions that benefit the entire organization. Most importantly, they can communicate these decisions in a way that brings people along, rather than alienating them.