Celebrate International Women's Day with week of activities in Pensacola

International Women’s Day will be marked in Pensacola and Gulf Breeze with a week of awareness events for women featuring local women-owned or women-managed businesses starting March 6. The week-long celebration has been coordinated by Powerful Women of the Gulf Coast (PWGC) and will be formally commemorated with a proclamation from the Pensacola Mayor’s office.

“Our members come from both Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and we saw International Women’s Day as a great concept to build upon," said Kolleen Chesley, PWGC executive director in a press release. "After reaching out locally, we were amazed at the number of women-owned or women-managed businesses and are excited to spotlight so many. Everyone, including men who support women in business, is welcome to attend any of the events and we hope they will support the host businesses by spending money with that business while we are there.”

For International Women’s Day 2023 and beyond, PWGC is helping bring awareness to the issues women face in business.

“Women have made important gains in representation in the last few years, but we're still a long way from equality,” Chesley said.

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A recent study by Lean In and McKinsey Research shows that bias contributes to women being passed over for jobs and promotions, and almost 60% of women regularly experience microaggressions at work. Additionally, for many women, finding meaningful support at work is a major challenge. About 20% of women say they’re often the only woman in the room at work.

Activities tied to International Women’s Day are intended to remind community members that everyone can help build an equal world. This global day of focus celebrates the collective power of women, pays tribute to women’s achievements, raises awareness of the remaining challenges, and takes action to drive gender parity.

To collectively make a difference, Powerful Women of the Gulf Coast is celebrating International Women's Day with a week-long celebration spotlighting local women in business, encouraging positive networking relationships, celebrating locally women-owned businesses, and raising money for Powerful Women. Powerful Women's mission is to promote, advance, and improve women in business.

Events are free to attend, but participants are asked to purchase from the business while visiting.

“For instance, if you come to our lunch on Friday at End of the Line Cafe, it's free to attend, but we ask that you buy your own lunch and pay End of the Line Cafe," Chesley said. "That restaurant is woman-owned and by doing this, we are tangibly showing the economic power and important consumer insight that women have in the marketplace. Also, we are able to showcase the power of collaboration and charitable giving as End of the Line Cafe has agreed to give-back a portion of her profits from the purchases from our attendees to PWGC for this campaign. If we can make a small difference for a local small business that’s impactful, it’s amazing to wonder what we could do in the future.”

PWGC has registration links for some of the events and has created an online event page where interested attendees can register for the rest of the events:. The online event will be updated as additional event details are confirmed.

International Women’s Day events March 6-11

March 6, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Kick-Off Lunch at South Market, 905 E. Gregory St. Register at https://KickOffLunch.eventbrite.com

March 7, 4:30 – 6 p.m.: Power Hour at Rich Events, 2 Intendencia St. Register at https://PowerHourPowerful.eventbrite.com

March 8, 8:30 – 10 a.m.: Walk & Talk at Running Wild and The Movement Clinic, 3012 E. Cervantes St. Register at https://forms.gle/kGyurTD3huesWTxH6

March 9, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Lunch & Learn at Bodacious, 407 Palafox St. Register at https://forms.gle/kGyurTD3huesWTxH6

March 10, anytime between 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Paired Networking with Powerful Women, End of the Line Café, 610 E. Wright St. Register at: https://forms.gle/kGyurTD3huesWTxH6

March 11, 11 a.m.- 3 p.m.: Prosecco & Powerful Women Shopping Event at Jen’s Designer Deals, 360 Gulf Breeze Pkwy, Gulf Breeze. No registration needed.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: International Women's Day: Pensacola's week of activities