IWD 2025: Gary speaks at Adobe’s International Women’s Day

Stay Positive & Accelerate Change

As someone working in the Inclusion field, 2025 has been trying my patience, so it was incredibly re-energising to go along to Adobe’s International Woman’s Day celebration yesterday.

To be in a room with so much positive energy, hearing the most amazing stories, but also being reminded of how much work there is to do (thank you June Sarpong OBE for bringing up the World Economic Forum estimate of gender parity not being reached until 2158), has reinforced my commitment to trying to accelerate change.

Clearly, the need for ethical leadership, kind leadership & listening leadership (thank you, Anna Marks – I have stolen that one) is now more essential than it has ever been. However, for me, yesterday’s event was more than just about furthering the gender equality cause (critical though that is), it was also about being part of a community that wants to learn who want to get better at what they do, in small incremental ways, every single day.

So a massive thank you also to all those that shared their stories, insights and ideas – Suzanne Steele, Cynthia (Cindy) Stoddard, Denise Colella, Winnie Annan-Forson, Opeyemi Sofoluke, Ruth O’Neill, Claire Darley, Janine Irons OBE FRSA, Isobel Perl, Claire-Louise Green, Emma Springham, Debora Koyama & Caroline Silver. It was real privilege to hear from all of you. Well done to Rachael Head, Madalena Gomes and all of the organising team for pulling it together.

I also made a commitment. For the last few years, I have been very focused on building our business at Men for Inclusion. I want to feel we have made a difference at a company level (and helping individuals as part of that), but I am not sure I have done enough at an individual level. So, I am looking to find a few more people who might be up for a mutual mentoring partnership. Feel free to give me a ping if of interest. Happy International Women’s Day!