Takeaways from International Women's Day Celebration

    On March 1, the UNA-Pasadena & Polytechnic Chapters hosted International Women's Day Celebration: Supporting Women in Global Leadership. The event focused on a panel discussion lead by UNA youth leaders and featured distinguished guests Eunice Reddick, American diplomat and former ambassador to Niger, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe, and KhinSandi Lwin, UNICEF Representative with a 35-year career working in ten countries. I really appreciated both speakers taking the time to share with us their experiences as women in their respective fields. It was very informative to me hearing about how many similar experiences they had as women such as how marriage negatively impacted career opportunities for both of them. I also thought the "sink or swim" mentality of women working in the international field KhinSandi Lwin described is a harsh reality that sexism creates in that environment, and has made me reflect on gender dynamics in work environments I find myself in. Both speakers have done e xtremely impressive things in their work to tackle these issues, and events like these where they can share their stories and empower others are unbelievably important for enacting change.