What To Read & Digest
What To Read
What to Watch
‘Educated’ by Tara Westover
‘Becoming’ by Michelle Obama
‘Bad Feminist: Essays’ by Roxane Gay
Resources
HERstory Month
Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture, and society - long before their voices began to be heard across the nation. March is recognized nationally as Women’s History Month, so get ready because we’re about to celebrate some marvelous ladies.
Empowered Women, Empower Women
"You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness."
Brené Brown
Agenda
Women of GumGum Empower Tee Raffle
(Open to All)
International Women’s Day Panel: Navigating a Pandemic: How Women are Doing it All (Internal & External)
International Women's Day Women of GumGum Inspiration Session 1: Teach girls bravery, not perfection | Reshma Saujani
1pm PST / 4pm PST (Open to All)
Women's HERstory Month: Happy Hour Connections
3pm PST / 6pm EST
March 8th
March 9th
March 11th
March 10th
Political Her-story
1922
First woman elected to the Senate
Women Enter the Room
Rebecca Felton becomes the first woman appointed to the Senate
She’s with Us
Kamala Harris is the first female Vice President, the highest-ranking female official in U.S history, and the first African American and first Asian American Vice President.
2021
2016
I'm with her
Hillary Rodham Clinton is the first woman to be nominated for President by a major political party.
1981
A Women's Place is in the Court
Sandra Day O'Connor is the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court
1920
Women Win the Right to Vote
Women are granted the right to vote thanks to the 19th Amendement
Women in the Workplace Who Changed the Game
Who she is: COO, Facebook
What she’s done: Sandberg’s bestselling first book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, is so iconic that its title became a saying unto itself—the “lean in moment,” in which women take charge of their careers and begin to realize their true potential as leaders. Her Ban Bossy campaign sought to shift our perspective of powerful female professionals and foster ambition in young women. Another campaign, called Lean In Together, brought men into the fold, arguing that female empowerment in the workplace isn't just good for women--it's good for everyone.
Sheryl Sandberg
Creator, 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Fey’s run as a writer, producer, and entertainer is already legendary; along with Shondha Rimes, she’s one of television’s few female auteurs. Nearly everything she touches, from her memoir Bossypants to her appearance on Inside Amy Schumer, engages on some level with gender roles and the disparities that go along with them. You might not have realized it, but when you watch 30 Rock (a workplace comedy if there ever was one), you’re getting schooled in gender equality. And in scenes like this, Fey proved herself unafraid to explore issues of sexism in the workplace--with a touch so light and so sneaky, you almost don't notice how it cuts right to the bone.
Tina Fey
CEO, Ellevate Network and previously CEO of Bank of America
Krawcheck founded Ellevate, a network where female professionals can connect and help each other achieve their goals. That simple idea that the professional world needs women forms the core of Krawcheck’s message, which has a (slightly depressing) way of sounding revolutionary.
Sallie Krawcheck
CEO, Xerox
Burns is the first black woman to serve as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. She’s also been a powerful advocate for women interested in careers in STEM fields (Burns has a master’s in mechanical engineering) and has positioned herself as an enemy of complacency. “My impatience stems from the desire to provide everyone in the world with the opportunities that I have had,” she told Triple Pundit. “The world is getting better but not fast enough.”
Ursula Burns
Founder, Spanx
According to Forbes, Blakely—the founder and sole owner of shapewear company Spanx—is the youngest self-made billionaire. If there’s some irony in the fact that an inspiration for female leaders made her fortune on what’s been described as a “21st-century girdle,” Blakely herself does much to dismiss that. “While many of the world’s natural resources are being depleted, one is waiting to be unleashed—women,” she wrote in a letter in which she pledged to give at least half of her wealth to charity. Her Sara Blakely Foundation has already donated more than $20 million to charities that empower underserved women.
Sara Blakely
What To Listen
International Women’s Day Top 50
101 Songs To Celebrate International Women’s Day
Black Girl in Om
On Being
hey, girl.
Call Your Girlfriend
The Michelle Obama Podcast
Standout Podcasts Hosted By Women For Women
Boss Women Collective
BossBabe
I May Destroy You
Killing Eve
Insecure
Bombshell
Good Girls
Shrill
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
WOMEN CHANGING THE WORLD
All Pakistan-born Malala Yousafzai wanted was an education, the same education provided to her male peers. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, ran a girls’ school in the village in which they lived, however when the Taliban moved in, they ordered the school to be shut down as they didn’t believe girls should receive an education. Not one to be deterred, Yousafzai continued to pursue her education but, in 2012, was confronted by a gunman on her school bus who shot her in the left side of her face. Now age 23, she and her family live in the United Kingdom and Youfsafzai founded the Malala Fund, a nonprofit whose aim is to give girls everywhere a chance at the future they deserve. She received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in 2014.
Malala Yousafzai
No matter where you stand on the issue of climate change, you’ve likely heard the name Greta Thunberg. The 18-year-old climate activist was recently nominated for a Nobel Prize for a third year in a row (she has yet to win the coveted honor). The teen, who was named as TIME’s Person of the Year in 2019, first came to international attention when she started skipping her Friday classes each week to campaign outside the Swedish Parliament with a sign reading “Skolstrejk för klimatet:” “School Strike for Climate.” Since then she has caught the attention of heads of state, whom she has addressed about climate and environmental concerns. Thunberg has set up a nonprofit foundation for her #FridaysForFuture campaign.
Greta Thunberg
Shaking up a business that has been around as long as the film industry may seem like an intimidating thing to do, but filmmaker Ava DuVernay is doing it. With her powerful projects that focus on fighting for justice (like her feature film Selma), she is doing more than just entertaining, she is educating. In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine DuVernay shed some light on the way she works, and why it works: “I try to be a shapeshifter and do a lot of things. A: because I can. B: because the traditional walls collapsed so there’s more flexibility, and C: because you can’t hit a moving target.” Her documentary 13th is one of the documentary films about race everyone should see.
Ava DuVernay
You may have first heard the name Megan Rapinoe when she famously led the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team to become World Cup Champions in 2019. But there’s so much more to the 35-year-old than her athleticism on the field. Rapinoe is a staunch women’s rights advocate who has taken on the task of fighting for equal pay in sports. In 2019, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team filed a lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation for alleged gender discrimination, claiming that their male counterparts on the Men’s National Soccer team earned far more than they do, despite the women’s team ranking first in the world, and the men’s team ranking 21st. “Don’t settle for anything less, go for equal, go for more, don’t accept any of these sort of antiquated and BS answers,” Rapinoe said in an interview with BBC on her fight for equal pay.
Megan Rapinoe
If you’ve ever watched gymnast Simone Biles take the floor (or the vault, balance beam, or uneven bars) for one of her impressive routines, surely you’ve been inspired to get off your butt and do something…anything! But factor in that the 24-year-old is also the first woman in 42 years to win four straight U.S. all-around titles (at the 2016 P&G Championships) and owns the most world medals in U.S. history (that would be 14) and the most world championships gold medals of any female gymnast (that would be ten) and you can see why she makes this list of inspirational women. Biles, who was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid, is also known for speaking openly about the disorder and advocates for those living with the chronic condition.
Simone Biles
Tennis icon Serena Williams captured the hearts of sports enthusiasts across the world with her athletic prowess and dedication to the game at an early age. But as we’ve watched her grow up before our very eyes, Williams has become so much more than an inspiration on the court. Like many of her peers on this list, she is vocal about the need for gender pay equality and racial equality. But she doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks the walk. In 2017 she became an ambassador for the Allstate Foundation Purple Purse, a project that hones in on the financial side of domestic abuse. Through her own Serena Ventures, she worked with Helping Hands Jamaica to build a new school on the island and $3 million in Mahmee, a Black-owned startup aimed at improving perinatal and postpartum care for new mothers and babies, a cause close to her heart after Williams experienced a serious health scare after giving birth to her daughter in 2017.
Serena Williams
“I think every strong woman in history has had to walk down a similar path, and I think it’s the strength that causes the confusion and fear.”
Princess Diana
March 12th
WGG Inspiration Session 2: Why we have too few women leaders | Sheryl Sandberg
9am PST / 12pm PST (Open to All)
Ted Talk: The Likability Dilemma forWomen Leaders | Robin Hauser
Ted Talk: Get comfortable with being uncomfortable | Luvvie Ajayi