International Women's Day

The theme of International Women's Day 2025 was “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment."

Events and initiatives DWF colleagues took part in for IWD 2025

This year’s International Women's Day (IWD) theme calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a feminist future where no one is left behind. This aligns firmly with DWF’s commitment to UN Global Compact Sustainable Development Goal #5 – Gender Equality. 

The initiatives listed below were designed for and open to all colleagues to join and build greater awareness of gender equality. 

Key event series

'In conversation with…' interview series: A series of Q&A webinars with diverse women from across the global DWF organisation created by 5 Star Futures including contributions from Sara Rafecas – Director; Jewels Chamberlain – Partner and Menopause Network Senior Lead; Rebecca Hetherington – Associate Legal Counsel and Working Families Network Chair ; Natasha Gunney – Partner and Gender Network Chair; Dipti Gosavi – Assistant Vice President (ALSP).

Sector initiatives

The Breakout Room: DWF relaunched its forum dedicated to empowering women in the construction industry, providing a platform for networking, sharing experiences, and supporting each other’s professional growth. Find out more and receive future updates on events >

Women in Construction Q&A: Women in DWF's Construction and Infrastructure team put their questions to career coach, Nikki Squire, from Strevas. 

Infrastructure, Construction and Energy: In acknowledgement of construction being a largely male dominated industry, David McNeice, Global Co-Head of Infrastructure, Construction and Energy, led an initiative to build allyship and connections to accelerate change and empower colleagues. Male colleagues were allocated a female colleague to connect with and understand what motivates them, what barriers they have faced, and what we can do differently to support female colleagues. The findings were collated anonymously and will be used to formulate a forward action plan.

Local events

Manchester: Colleagues in our Manchester office combined some informal networking with a guided walk about the inspiring women who have had an influence on the history, heritage, and culture of not just Manchester, but much further afield too. 

Liverpool: Colleagues in our Liverpool office took part in informal networking and a walking tour. The tour, inspired by pioneering women from Liverpool included many locations that played an important role in social, medical, and cultural changes from the 1800s to the modern day.

Belfast: Colleagues in Belfast showcased female talent through a video montage shared on social media.

Pune: The India DE&I team hosted a panel discussion including Assistant Vice Presidents Dipti Gosavi, Sakshi Kalra and Kajal Soni.

Poland: Colleagues were invited to attend a lecture featuring a presentation from a professor specialising in gender equality and the labour market. 

Glasgow: Colleagues held a coffee morning and took time to gather feedback on this year's International Women's Day theme of "Accelerate Action". Colleagues were also encouraged to share donations to Dress for Success Scotland.
 
Edinburgh: Colleagues held a coffee morning and conversation on Accelerating Action. Colleagues were also encouraged to make clothing donations to Smart Works Scotland and Grassroots Clothing.

Dubai: Our Dubai office conducted a questionnaire allowing colleagues to recognise inspirational and motivational women in their office.

Events our colleagues attended during IWD 2024

'In conversation with…' interview series: A series of Q&A webinars with diverse women created by 5 Star Futures including contributions from Caroline Colliston - Executive Partner Scotland, DWF; Beth Casey - ESG Manager, Inflexion; Kirsty Rogers - Chief Sustainability Officer, DWF; Louise Rogerson - Chief People Officer, DWF and Seema Bains - Partner and Head of Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Group, DWF.

Diverse Career Journeys: Inspirational colleagues from DWF and Aviva shared insights on the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and advice in overcoming barriers. Guest speakers included Waseem Malik – Chief Claims Officer, Aviva; Nicola Sheils – Technical Claims Director, Aviva; Stefan Paciorek – Global Head of Dispute Resolution, DWF and Harriet Quiney – Partner - Legal Services, DWF. The event was chaired by Seema Bains and included an introduction from Nigel Teasdale (DWF Commercial Director - Insurance Legal Services). 

Inspiring Women and Allies: Amazon and DWF's gender networks collaborated on a hybrid breakfast event showcasing the career journeys of successful women and allies championing greater gender equality.

Inspiring Inclusion and Allyship event: Kirsty Rogers was joined by psychologist & allyship specialist Lee Chambers to chair a panel discussion exploring the role of male allies in creating greater gender inclusion in the workplace. Panellist included Paul Corcoran - Chief Executive, Agent; Paul Taylor - Associate General Counsel, Manchester United and Naveen Gupta - Partner, DWF

Plus regional events such as local walking tours, fundraisers, discussions, presentations, coffee mornings and virtual meet ups across the UK, India, North America, Australia, Germany, Poland, and France.

The theme of 2023's International Women's Day was #EmbraceEquity

Events our colleagues attended during IWD 2023

Being Your Best You: Authentic Leadership & Diversity Event. In a collaboration with HSBC, DWF held an event to explore how leading in alignment with your values and overcoming your limiting beliefs enables colleagues to bring their authentic self to the workplace. 

International Women's Day Breakfast event with clients in our Brisbane office including a panel discussion with Dr Prue Fitzpatrick, Dr Ghazala Watt and Her Honour Judge Suzanne Sheridan. 

Morning wellness session attended by our colleagues in Poland  who celebrated International Women's Day with a an inspirational speech by Aneta Ostaszewska about the women who fought for women's rights throughout centuries, and still inspire young generations.

International Women's Day Workshop Morning in our London office aimed at colleagues at the early stages of their careers. The workshop included a yoga class followed by breakfast and a workshop on empowerment, self-expression and celebrating individuality. 

5 STAR Futures programme, aimed at year 10/11 students to build confidence and aspirations around skills and careers, held an online panel event with women leaders from DWF discussing their career journeys and experience with working in a legal business. 

International Women's Day #EmbraceEquity discussion was held in our Manchester office. All colleagues were invited to take part in an open debate on whether the theme of #EmbraceEquity goes far enough, the rate of change and how we can achieve greater equity. 

What's the Score This International Women's Day? Colleagues from our Belfast office held a lunch event that included a panel discussion hosted by Sports Correspondent at UTV, Ruth Gorman, and speakers Shirley McKay, an Ireland field hockey international, Amber Newall, a DWF solicitor and Eimear Mullan, former professional triathlete. 

In collaboration with the London Well Being Clinic, our London office created a workshop designed to reconnect colleagues with their confidence. This workshop was aimed at women moving into senior roles and looked at why we experience things like imposter syndrome, addressing the inner critical voice, and equipping participants with the tools to make an impact. 

Industry specific and intersectional events from our friends at BITC, ENEI, The Law Society, Mindful Business Charter and Carers UK have also been shared with our colleagues as well as sessions focused on girls and women in the upcoming Neurodiversity Celebration Week. 

BreakTheBias: Kirsty Rogers (DWF's Head of Environmental, Social & Governance) hosted a conversation with the Government Legal Department's Treasury Solicitor, Susanna McGibbon, on her journey as only the second women to hold her role, how the Government Legal Department are improving diversity, the issues they are facing, and how we can all #BreakTheBias.

Exploring Imposter Syndrome: DWF and Enterprise Rent-a-Car delivered an interactive webinar to explore imposter syndrome and the psychology behind this phenomenon. We heard from DWF and Enterprise Rent-a-Car colleagues about their personal experiences and advice on preventing imposter syndrome. 

Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world: As part of our 5 Star Futures education programme for schools, students heard from female leaders within DWF about their career journey, the challenges they faced, and the opportunities they have had and things they wished they had known when they started their career journey.

Which fashion designers empower women more?: A virtual discussion on global fashion, cultural sensitivity and how we can #BreakTheBias: Mohab Khattab (DWF Arabia CEO) hosted a discussion with our D&I Leadership and Gender Strand Leadership groups on female led fashion in Arabia. We explored how we can empower women, build awareness and #BreakTheBias on a global scale.

Internally, our colleagues were also able to register for International Women's Day events delivered by our partners Everywoman, Bupa and Workplace Options