On this #InternationalWomensDay2021

Today is #InternationalWomensDay.

We mark #IWD2021 with the first anniversary of the WHO’s declaration of the #COVID-19 pandemic just days away.

As we celebrate the achievements of women and girls around the world over time, we must also today reflect on the events of the past year and recognize that women and girls have been hardest hit by the effects of this pandemic.

Again, women and girls are paying a disproportionate price in this crisis (which is a health crisis first, but also a socio-economic one).

Women and girls are – again – being resiliency-tested and called upon to step-up in multiple roles concurrently: as essential workers in frontline workplaces, at home with families, and in caring for loved ones and our broader communities.

While for some this is a source of strength and purpose, too many others are struggling – financially, emotionally, and otherwise.

We know that pandemic-ravaged industries like tourism and hospitality have seen silent exoduses of women from their workforces, with lower-income and traditionally marginalized workers bearing an unfair brunt of the hours/incomes cut and jobs lost.

In the change and transition sessions and classes I have taught over the last year, women have been over-represented and, they’ve been harder hit than men. More women have been challenged to find new careers – even at later stages of life.

My friends Debbie Burke and Diane Okrent at www.burkeandokrent.com have been tracking the pandemic’s impact on women over 50 years and their experiences. Dr. Anne Hennessey, a member of our LMC Catalyst community, has been doing workshops and research on loss and grief throughout the pandemic.

Stay tuned for details on an upcoming event to reflect on the past year, celebrate our strength and resiliency, and make sense of the changes, grief, stress, and loss women have been dealing with over the last year as we turn the corner in this pandemic. We hope you will join us.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, here is a link to a sample from another LMC Catalyst, Jenny Sardone: jennysardone.hearnow.com Jenny has hust released her new album “What Are We Waiting For” on Spotify, Apple iTunes, iHeart Radio. (Congrats, Jenny!)

Investing in women and girls must be the cornerstone of any attempts to ‘build back better’ as we will be the ones to, again, lead the meaningful change our societies need and seek.