An internal conference. A lunch and learn. A trivia hour. A selfie campaign. And more. On Monday, March 8, thousands of Dassault Systèmes employees across the world celebrated International Women’s Day by participating in a wide variety of activities and initiatives.
Much of the programming was oriented around the #IWD2021 theme of #ChooseToChallenge, in line with the goal of accelerating women’s equality to forge a more gender equal world. And the group running the show here at 3DS is the Women’s Initiative Network (WIN).
What better time than International Women’s Day to give some shine to WIN at 3DS?
WIN’s a network of women (and men and non-binary employees) across the company who are committed to taking actions that promote gender diversity within 3DS and in surrounding communities. That could mean hosting events for colleagues, working with local schools to promote science education, organizing talks or any number of things.
WIN’s been around for more than a decade at 3DS, but has really picked up steam in recent years, says Stephanie Tamhoua, who recently took over the promotion and coordination of WIN at 3DS at the global level. Each GEO also has its own leader for WIN, who in turn collect ambassadors to contribute to participating in actions or running projects, like launching mentoring programs or organizing a team for a local charity run.
The GEOs were busy doing a little bit of all that for International Women’s Day. A few highlights include:
- A global virtual conference on “Building more Inclusive and Diverse teams across the World”
- The launch of a month-long book series in which GEO leaders will share their favorite books with a strong female lead, kicking off with Hanny Carmel of EUROMED, who suggested “Becoming” from Michelle Obama
- EURONORTH team have built a week long program with external speakers, testimonies and inclusion programs
- A virtual race in Canada
- A lunch-and-learn in APSouth
- Virtual trivia in the US
- A new video series featuring female leaders from across the company called the WIN Conversations
But beyond the date of International Women’s DAy, Dassault Systèmes wants to assure that gender equality and inclusiveness is not a matter of one day or one month it is an everyday commitment. Today women represent 50% of the board, 40% of executive and 30% of manager’s numbers that Dassault Systèmes vows to increase, especially amongst middle management.
Oh and about that selfie campaign… Watch the short video below to see dozens of 3DS employees share their #ChooseToChallenge selfies celebrating #IWD2021 and reaffirming their commitment to gender equality.
