18 Takeaways from International Women’s Day with General Assembly

On March 8th, we celebrated with our friends at General Assembly with a series of global events that featured amazing women from Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Melbourne, NYC, Seattle, Singapore and Sydney, all spearheading local innovation in tech, culture, social media, and politics.

They discussed how they’ve pioneered gender equality in their industries, the challenges they’ve faced, and provided key tips and strategies on taking action.

Excitedly, the turnout was great, and, more importantly, all of our attendees were able to walk away with action-items, food-for-thought and inspiration from the speakers and their fellow attendees.

HERE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITES:

“Why don’t we have more diversity at the top when there is diversity in the company?” – Claire Wasserman, Founder of Ladies Get Paid

When asked about how a company can help women become leaders: “Shared parental leave is the answer.” – Sophie Guerin, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Dell

“When I am challenged, when I am given a deck of cards, I can accept what is given to me, or I can life-craft. Life-crafting is changing the game, not accepting the limitations that others ascribe to you. We are game-changing entrepreneurs.” – Dima Elissa, CEO and Founder at VisMed3D and Tech & Innovation Lead at American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)

“The moment you stop learning new things, it becomes easier to exclude others….We need to start talking about what exclusion feels like and looks like and sounds like, so we can begin to create a more inclusive world” – Sheree Haggan, Staffing Services at Google

“We are women and we should be very proud of our process.” – Suzanne Tonks, Director at Oliver & York Public Affairs

“It’s only lonely at the top if you arrive there by yourself. So as women, we have a responsibility. How seriously do you take the responsibility that we have to lift as we climb? Because that pinnacle at the top can only be fully appreciated and enjoyed if it’s shared with others.” – Star Cunningham, Founder & CEO of 4D Healthware

“If I was going to do this, I had to embrace who I was unapologetically, I had to understand success would happen not despite who I was, but because of who I was- who I am” – Jessica O Matthews, Founder & CEO of Uncharted Play

“I did not come to this world (politics) naturally, I came to it because of things in my gut and my life experiences that drove me to be fighter for people who I knew were sharing the same lived experiences and challenges that I once faced. We all have those stories in our guts that drive us, and that motivate us towards the things that we care about and that we want to work on and I hope that you’ll tap into that.” – Wendy Davis, Founder of Deeds Not Words and Former Texas State Senator

“I needed to give women a safe place to be, a place where they could talk about their kids and their families.” – Lee Rolontz, EVP – Production Entertainment Enterprises at iHeartMedia

On pitching to investors: “Unconscious bias exists…Know your numbers…Think analytically…Lead the conversation where you want it to go.”– Eveline Buchatskiy, Director of Techstars

“Millennials and woman are about to experience the greatest wealth transfer of our time”– Emily Winslow, VP of Operations at Peak Change

“Ask yourself: How can you help? Become a mentor…Say yes to coffee.” – Amy Hirotaka, Public Policy and Community Engagement Manager at Facebook

“One of the most powerful tools we’ve got is calling out things as we see them.” – Nithya Gopu Solomon, Executive Lead of the Innovation Office at VicHealth

“I can be nice, but I can also be successful, I can be strong and I can be creative….Nice is not straightforward, especially for women.”– Sarah Iooss, Senior VP of Business Development at Viacom

“You shouldn’t apologize for sharing your opinion.”– Moe Kiss, Data Scientist at The Iconic

“Tell me what you were doing 12 months ago and what you’re doing now. Tell me what you’e worth” – Alyce Tran, Founder of The Daily Edited

“Maintain militant eye contact when negotiating a salary” – Camilla Gulli, Social Media & Content at Vodafone AU

“Keep asking questions about how you can be thoughtful, be bold and be inquisitive.” – Caroline Ng, Investment Director at Vertex Ventures

This post originally appeared on Women 2.0.

Women 2.0 is building a future where gender is no longer a factor. Founded in April 2006, it’s now the leading media brand for women in tech. The for-profit, for-good company takes an action-oriented approach that directly addresses the pipeline from all sides: hiring, founding, investing, and leading.