I have a lot to celebrate each March — my birthday, my husband’s birthday, Pi Day. In the last few years, I have added another day to that list — International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8 — and I’m proud to help lead Citrix’s celebration of IWD as part of our Women’s Inspirational Network (WIN).
Every year, on IWD, there are events around the world that highlight women’s achievements. It is even an official holiday in at least 20 countries. This year, we will celebrate the 110th International Women’s Day, with the theme Choose to Challenge. We can choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequity. We can choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements.
Challenging biases is not as simple as it seems. Still, it’s up to each of us to identify these biases and learn how handle them. When I was growing up, I spoke Spanish and English in my house, and I feel fortunate to be fluent in two languages. But I have always had an accent, which some people can’t deal with. I had a professor in college who told me to go back to my parents’ country. And in my first job, my manager didn’t let me talk to customers and wanted me to be quiet while shoppers were in the store.
Then, I didn’t know the right way to handle these situations. But I knew it wasn’t right, and I know, today, as the mother of two daughters who look up to me, how important it is to challenge biases and inequality. Women sharing their experiences, like the ones highlighted in this video, will help inspire and empower others and show what’s possible.
We have 10 Employee Resource Groups at Citrix, and one of the oldest is WIN. Our mission is to provide opportunities for women at Citrix to connect, educate, inspire, and empower one another to enhance business and personal success. Our WIN activities have included virtual tea breaks with executives from renowned brands, sessions around work/life balance and mindfulness, and yoga. We currently have nine chapters representing Bangalore, Singapore, Dublin, UK, Greece, Costa Rica, Santa Clara, Raleigh, and Fort Lauderdale.
Unfortunately, we can’t celebrate IWD in person with our colleagues this year. However, WIN is holding a global virtual event for Citrix employees, with special guests Sandy Carter from AWS and Aimee Catalano from Google Cloud. We will also have our CIO Meerah Rajavel, SVP & Managing Director Sherif Seddik, and Vice President of Global Subscription Go-to-Market Natalie Polson. They’ll will discuss gender bias, the impact COVID-19 on work/life balance, and the promotion of women’s careers.
I look forward to celebrating women’s achievements today and throughout 2021 and to learning how women everywhere are inspiring and empowering each other.
Employee Resource Groups at Citrix
The Women’s Inspirational Network is one of Citrix’s 10 employee resource groups (ERGs). These employee-led, self-organized, Citrix-sponsored groups focus on advancing our vision of equality by supporting and advancing a sense of belonging at Citrix and beyond.
Our goal: support underrepresented groups of employees, helping them to build safe spaces for members, to educate allies, and attract and retain diverse talent. Our current ERGs are:
- Black Professionals Network
- Women’s Inspirational Network
- Pride Alliance
- Latino Professionals Network
- Military Veterans Group
- Foster Family and Adoption Group
- Asian Professionals
- Parents and Caregivers
- Emerge
- Enabled
Learn about our ERGs and diversity and inclusion at Citrix and how we’re helping our employees bring their authentic selves to work.
