Sarah Windrum is the Head of Cluster Development at MIRA Tech Park in north Warwickshire and chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s North Warwickshire Local Business Forum.

In this blog, the former chair of Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership explains how International Women’s Day helps women throughout the world to Accelerate Action.

This year’s International Women’s Day is an opportunity for me to reflect on more than a decade of attending IWD events with catchy hashtags like Break the Bias, Balance for Better, and Inspire Inclusion. And this year’s theme, Accelerate Action, has encouraged me to look closely at what we have achieved since I started my career here in the Midlands in the early 2000s.

For most women in business, 8th March is a busy day in the calendar. It’s easy to fill with events and wonder why we feel the need to squeeze it all into just one day.

When I look back at the IWD events I have been part of, I recognise that I have shared some incredibly personal things from my struggles with suicidal thoughts to the scars of an abusive relationship I left in my 20s.

I have shared how I overcame these challenges coupled with the loneliness I felt for many years working in a male-dominated industry to be where I am today living a life of purpose through my personal and professional roles. I shared these things in the hope that those who heard me, who were also struggling in the darkness, left feeling less alone.

And, at each IWD event, I have gained valuable new knowledge from the women (and men!) I have surrounded myself with.

I have learnt how to model equity and empathy as values I live every day and not just things that get spoken about in the abstract. I have learnt how to be a curious leader and not assume I know how to walk in someone else’s shoes or what is best for them. I have learnt how to champion others and recognise their triumphs over adversity and how to celebrate with them. I genuinely feel I grow kinder and stronger with every International Women’s Day I am part of.

This is why IWD is so important. It’s not just a day of nice lunches and talks. It’s a day where we open up and share the things we don’t share every day. The challenges we face and overcome, the small wins we are most proud of, the dreams we have for the world.

And it’s a day when we celebrate and share as a global community of women. One of my favourite events was in 2014 when I was part of a live link up with women in Rwanda at the Sydni Centre in Leamington – the local community centre where I had made new friends after having my daughter in 2011.

We talked together, sang together, and I was humbled to realise the strength of ambition held by all women across the world even in the face of adversity.

These women shared their stories of entrepreneurship and social activism alongside their stories of family, friends, and food! I left feeling truly uplifted and with some great new cooking tips! It is these moments I draw on every time the world feels too divided, too angry, too cold. It is this inspiration that gets me back out there to keep fighting the good fight.

Sometimes I think we haven’t achieved enough because of how much there still is to do to achieve true gender equity across the world.

But then I meet a young woman trailblazing a career in engineering and encouraging the next generation to dare to be different and I come across a business offering flexible senior leadership roles to ensure those with caring responsibilities can balance homelife with their career. I see campaigns championing investment in female-led businesses and I judge awards where women have boldly told their own powerful stories with pride and integrity.

These things didn’t exist for me when I started my career and now they do. As I say, there is still so much to do globally; but when I look at my teenage daughter, I know she’s inheriting a world of greater possibilities and opportunities than I did.

So my call to you is to remember that action doesn’t have to be big, to be life-changing. Bringing women and allies together, sharing stories, gifting knowledge – these are all things that make a huge difference in our push for equity across the world. We can all accelerate action and I look forward to sharing this International Women’s Day with you.