For me International Women’s Day is one of reflection. And unlike previous years, this time I’m taking a “glass is half full” approach. Or in the words of Loretta Lynn, “We’ve come a long way baby!”

A big part of women's history is about money: when, whether and how we’ve been allowed to earn our own money, control our own money, and make our own decisions about personal finances.

Today women in the US and Canada don’t question their right to open a bank account, own property, have a career or walk into a bar without a male escort.

BUT all these rights were hard won – and it’s not such ancient history.

Imagine walking into a bank and being told you couldn’t open an account without your husband’s permission. Or try to get a credit card and be told you couldn’t do so without a male co-signer or if you were single being denied altogether.

It took years and coordinated fights by women in Canada and the U.S. but by the mid-70s they succeeded in getting laws passed to bring an end to financial discrimination.

Imagine wanting to have a career.

In the 50’s advertisements, educational films, and television shows, all showed post-war women as feminine, stay-at-home moms cleaning, cooking, and taking care of children while masculine dads left home early and returned late each weekday, tending to their designated roles as lawnmowers and backyard BBQers on the weekend.

In her book, More Work for Mother, renowned historian of science, technology and medicine Ruth Schwartz Cowan wrote that psychiatrists, psychologists, and popular writers in the 50’s critiqued women who wished to pursue a career, and even women who wished to have a job, referring to such "unlovely women" as "lost," "suffering from penis envy," "ridden with guilt complexes," or just plain "man-hating."

But the era of “Occupation Housewife” subtly started to change with Tupperware Home Parties that became a socially acceptable way for women to earn money while staying within prescribed gender roles. Challenging the idea that women’s fulfillment derived solely from homemaking, planting seeds for the feminist movements of the 1960’s.

Women also experienced challenges when it came to getting a higher education. And we all know people with higher levels of education tend to have better employment prospects and earn more over their lifetime.

Imagine having the grades to attend a school like Princeton, but your gender kept you on the other side of those hallowed, ivy-covered halls.

Harvard Business School, the most prestigious and a direct route to Wall Street only allowed women to enroll in 1963 and ONLY into their two-year MBA program.

Author Paulina Bren, in her book She Wolves – The Untold History of Women on Wall Street, wrote -

“In the late summer of 1963, reporters descended on Cambridge, Massachusetts, because America’s best B-school was about to let them in. Eight women had been officially admitted into the two-year MBA program- 8 women joining 624 men in the HBS class of 1965.

Progress? Yes …… but they certainly weren’t rolling out the red carpet.

“They were constantly being told they were taking a man’s place. Their classmates told them, unabashedly, that men as breadwinners, as family providers, were more deserving of a spot at HBS.”

And we cannot forget our fight to narrow the wage gap.

Imagine it’s the 80’s and you’re earning 64 cents for every dollar that a man made.

When I began working in the financial industry in 1984. I felt so lucky that I had been accepted into a male dominated profession and eagerly agreed to a salary of $12,000 compared to my male colleagues’ $18,0000. I’ll do the math for you – I was agreeing to get 66 cents for every dollar earned by my male colleagues once it was explained to me that they were married and supporting a family and I wasn’t.

Fast forward 40 years and today women have succeeded in earning 82% of what men earn.

Oh, and that thing about walking into a bar without a male escort – in most countries – it took brave individual women to challenge local laws – for example in 1973 two women were refused service at the Pierre Hotel’s bar in NYC, citing hotel policy, for being unaccompanied. These two women filed a complaint with the NYC Commission on Human Rights which ruled in their favor, and the State Supreme Court later upheld the decision awarding each woman $350 for “humiliation and damages.”

There is no doubt in my mind that we have come a long way. But I want more. And I want it now. The wage gap has not budged since the mid-80s. It's 2025 and yet no country has achieved gender equality. The rate of progress needs to speed up worldwide.

So, it’s timely that the theme of International Women’s Day 2025 is Accelerate Action.

One of the best ways to forge gender equality is to understand what works and to do more of this, faster. And one of the biggest ways to help Accelerate Action is to Support the Supporters.

In other words –realize the power of money. This year IWD has a call to action for women-focused fundraising.

From grassroots groups to large-scale bodies, philanthropic entities are working tirelessly to support and advance women and girls.

So, let's step forward in solidarity and commit to helping these groups #AccelerateAction for IWD 2025 and beyond.