International Women's Day 2023

We also asked the men in our team about a woman who inspires them and why. Here are a few of the inspirational women they came back with…

"I have been inspired by so many women over the years. Most recently though, Mia Brookes. She won gold for GB at the Snowboard World Championships last week. In doing so, she landed the first ever Cab 1440 double grab at a women’s event. That’s 4 rotations in the air, starting backwards! Basically, after her initial run in the final she was in 2^nd place. She could have just done a safe run and settled for silver or bronze. But instead she chose to try something new, something that had never been done before. She nailed it and grabbed the gold medal. The youngest snowboarding world champion ever… Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, she’s 16 years old!" - Mark Lebihan, Chief Operating Officer

"Beyonce Knowles would be my pick, not only for empowering women through her music with hits such as “Alien Superstar” and “Single Ladies”, but also her political and social advocacy and platforming black culture and history… Just go and take a look at her Coachella performance. A feminist icon of her generation." - Alex Portlock, Development Manager

"It might seem a little cheesy to go with a footballer, but seeing Beth Mead get up to receive her award for Sports Personality of the Year from the BBC this year made me well up more than a little bit. I remember watching the final of the Euros (along with everyone else in the UK, I think) and caring more than I have for years about an international game. I think it was because of what it meant for the game, and for girls who wanted to play football, and how it was going to change the whole environment that young boys and girls would now be playing sport in. It felt like the year that football caught fire in England for the women’s game, and when I took my own boy to football the next day, there was as many girls out in the mud as there were boys – and again, it made me feel emotional for what they have achieved. Thanks to them, there are girls who will need never know how hard the female players of the last ten or twenty years have had to work to just be taken seriously – and that’s a massively positive step for society." - Matt Griffiths-Rimmer, Director of Communications and Partnerships

"Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman OAM is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her best time still ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time. She was the first Australian Indigenous person to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1990 at just 16 years old. Australia has a checkered past regarding its treatment and view of Aboriginal people. However, Cathy played a fundamental role in bringing Aboriginal rights to the forefront of discussion and politics. When Cathy won her first medal, she did a victory lap with the Aboriginal Mabo flag, causing huge outcry amongst narrow-minded Australians but raising hope for Aboriginal people across the country. She is now thought of as a golden child of Australian sports and continues to campaign and raise awareness for aboriginal rights. Not only was she a pivotal figure in promoting racial equality in Australia, but she also inspired a generation of women and athletes to aspire to their best in Australia." - Stephen Rossouw, Project Director

"Rosalind Franklin, a rarity in the sense that she studied chemistry at Cambridge at a time when it was uncommon for women to pursue sciences. Her studies in x-ray diffraction techniques were critical to the identification of the double-helix structure of DNA. Sadly, it was not until after her death (37 yo, ovarian cancer) that the much better-known Francis Crick acknowledged her contributions to this discovery." - Philip Francis, Assistant Development Manager

"Judi Dench to me is a strong, composed, talented, compassionate, and astute woman - not afraid to put people in their place for the right reason. (Oh nearly forgot, she’s British – come on!!)" - Leo Prescott, Development Manager

"Michelle Obama seems to be a very sincere, compassionate, and down to earth person that people can relate to no matter what continent they live on. She is passionate about her interests and causes she supports. She gives off positive energy and puts faith in the common person." - Trevor Firus, Commercial Finance Analyst

"I would say Serena Williams. Often regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. 23-time grand slam winner. She inspires me due to the wide range of activities she is involved in alongside tennis career. For example, backing her own VC fund ‘Serena Ventures'." - Henry Brooks-Pollard, Assistant Development Manager

"Angela Vorobeva – The oldest person to climb mount Kilimanjaro. A true inspiration. A reminder that age is no barrier, the power of the mind conquers all, and it’s not about how many times you get knocked down but how many times you get back up." - Yiannis Kalatta, Financial Controller

"Something from leftfield here. I’m gonna go with Alice Coltrane. She was pretty far out with the music she wrote, and I think a lot of it is great. When I discovered her music in fairly recent years, I was surprised I hadn’t already heard of her, given the surname. Alice Coltrane was John Coltrane’s second wife and didn’t really come to prominence until after his death in 1967. If you want an easy listen, then her track “Turiya and Ramakrishna” is great." - Matthew Woolgar, Project Director

It’s been great to see our team having conversations around this day. We look forward to proactively continuing these discussions as we move forward and creating an increasingly more equal and equitable world for women.