This year, the International Women’s Day theme is #ChooseToChallenge. With the hope of inspiring people and communities all over the world to challenge the stereotypes, biases, and commemorate the cultural, social, and political achievements of women across the globe, International Women’s Day is here to bring raise awareness of gender equality.
The truth is, however, that women should be celebrated not only every March 8th but every day. Especially amidst COVID-19, a year that’s been especially tough on women due to the many hats it required them to wear. From full-time roles at work to a homeschooler, caregiver, and even those frontline healthcare workers battling the pandemic.
Women play an invaluable role in our everyday lives. Roles that we often, take for granted. Women want and deserve to be freed from society’s stigma, violence, and unequal treatment. For that to happen, we need to have women with decision-making authority.
In the simple, yet wise words of Pope Francis, the world wouldn’t be the same without them.
Today, we’d like not only to honor women but also to celebrate those brands rallying for women around the world!
Häagen-Dazs
In honor of International Women’s Day, Häagen-Dazs is renaming four of its popular ice-creams’ flavors in honor of women innovators and leaders in the United Arab Emirates.
Its delicious Vanilla flavor will be named ‘Scale New Heights’ in honor of Raha Moharrak, known for being the first Saudi to ever climb Mount Everest.
Häagen-Dazs’ Salted Caramel flavor will be renamed as ‘Beat the Odds,’ to celebrate Yasmin Yousri, who survived cancer three times and quitted her corporate job to pursue her dreams of becoming a fashion stylist, blogger, and art director.
Belgian Chocolate will be renamed ‘Direct my Story’ to commemorate Nayla Al Khaja, the first Saudi female producer and director. She has recently been named one of the 50 most inspiring people in Arab Cinema.
Lastly, Häagen-Daz’s Strawberries and Cream flavor will take the name of ‘Design my Destiny’ to celebrate Maz Hakin, known for her TEDx talk on refugees and her impactful clothing line, which combines Western and Eastern styles and that is made by women in the United Arab Emirates.
It doesn’t end there, Häagen-Dazs has also invited women all over the world to nominate women that inspire them through the social media hashtag #DontHoldBack. Alongside the four honored women mentioned above, Häagen-Dazs will pick the two most inspiring women nominated to rename its iconic Cookies and Cream and Vanilla Caramel Brownie ice cream flavors in their honor!
Nike
With a powerful, yet touching video, Nike inspires us to imagine a world where gender equality and equity prevails. A world where one day, we no longer have to have an International Women’s Day, because women should be celebrated every day.
Hats off to these women who have moved sport forward!
Apple
The iconic and beloved tech giant will be launching the “She Creates” Today at Apple series to give people the enlightening chance to learn from creative women. The series will highlight inventive women through design, business, music, tech, and photography, to further explore their work in these areas and encourage others to navigate their original perspectives.
At the same time, select Apple stores will be hosting sessions led by women from different industries to empower communities through the power of imagination.
Kind Bars
Kind, which already has more than 10% of the snack market share, has recently launched a KIND Equality Program to inspire people to imagine and help create a more equal world. As part of their initiative, Kind will also be donating its profits for their limited-edition ‘Equality’ bar. The profits will be directed to the Alice Paul Institute, a not-for-profit corporation that focuses on education, empowerment, and equality efforts.
Google has taken huge steps to celebrate International Women’s Day this year. Google Assistant, for instance, will be sharing historical facts on female leaders to people’s “Happy International Women’s Day” command. The Google Doodle, on the other hand, will commemorate female trailblazers whose worked redefined how women are seen in society.
Google will also be partnering with the Guardians, a female motorcyclist’s group. Together, they will film a documentary about the Guardian’s Women Riders World Relay.
At the same time, the tech giant has announced that they’ll be launching a $25 million fund with the mission of supporting women’s and girl’s economic livelihoods across the globe. This is a massive investment in shaping gender equality by Google, that has already invested more than $55 million in donations to non-profits focusing on uplifting women’s right over the last decade.
Netflix
You’ve probably seen Netflix’s “Because She Watched” collection while browsing for your favorite TV show today. The collection, which was part of Netflix’s celebration of International Women’s Day, was curated by influential women in the entertainment industry and features series, films, and documentaries that reveres the life story of inspirational women across the world.
It doesn’t end there. Netflix will also be investing in the future female leaders of the entertainment industry. The streaming giant recently announced that they will be donating $5 million to programs whose focus resides upon the formation, training, and development of women talent around the world.
It looks like Netflix has already arranged our Monday night plans for us today!
Unilever
Research conducted by the United Nations has found that the COVID-19 outbreak and its consequences have led to an increase in domestic violence. To combat this growing concern and inspire other companies to take action, Unilever has publicly shared its global policy around domestic violence.
Unilever has also announced that they will be sharing their policy with other companies that might not have one and are looking for one. This effort is also supported by a short video that showcases women being muted when trying to speak up about domestic violence, to inspire women to find the courage to speak up, share their story, and inspire others to do the same.
Mercedes-Benz
As part of their ‘Accelerate 25’ program and to celebrate International Women’s Day, Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix will be partnering with Stemettes, a British social enterprise to encourage more young women to pursue STEM careers – those in science, engineering, technology, and math.
The program has the vision of seeing more female representation in these male-dominated fields and envision women from all backgrounds and ethnicities to live up to their dreams. Mercedes will also be offering young female professionals with 4-month mentoring programs with experienced Mercedes Formula 1 engineers to better understand what a STEM career embodies.
Hershey’s
The chocolate giant is celebrating International Women’s Day through a sweet new label. Hershey’s ‘celebrate she’ labels is the original way Hershey’s is reminding us to celebrate those women that have had a positive impact on our lives. At the same time, through an inspirational film, Hershey’s is honoring women trailblazers whose life and work have inspired countless other women across the globe.
Pinterest has transformed its retail section to honor women-owned businesses in International Women’s Day. Currently, its Pinterest Shop details both mission-driven and female-founded brands from across the world.
Doordash
Similar to Pinterest, Doordash is focusing on supporting women-owned businesses. Through a partnership with WNBA all-star Chiney Ogwumike, Doordash will be promoting Made by Women, a digital app that focuses on female-owned businesses. Currently, Made by Women empowers hundreds of female-owned restaurants throughout the United States.
Doordash customers, type in ‘women owned’ in the search box when making your order today to celebrate International Women’s Day to help support female-owned businesses!
We all have a responsibility in exerting our influence in shaping the world in the direction we think it should go.
Let’s unite our efforts to honor women.
Let’s live in a world where young women around the world feel inspired to be the very best they can be, have the courage to follow their dreams, feel supported throughout their journey, and their ambition is celebrated by all.
Together, we can make it happen.
Happy International Women’s Day!
English 
Español 