CORK is marking International Women’s Day on March 8 with a number of events.

The Hope Foundation (HOPE) will host its first ever virtual International Women’s Day event on March 5 at 8am.

Speakers include Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu, Irish Examiner Political Correspondent Aoife Moore and award-winning Managing Director Vicki O’Toole of JJ O’Toole Ltd, Holly Cairns, Social Democrat TD for Cork South West, Dr Pixie McKenna Private GP partner and is best known for her role as a Screen Doctor in Embarrassing Bodies and Brendan Courtney is a TV presenter / producer, award winning documentary maker, award winning fashion designer, host / MC, businessman and author.

Hosted by HOPE, these special guests will join a virtual audience to discuss gender bias, equality in the business world, resilience, their own challenges and how they stay motivated. This will be followed by an interactive Q&A session.

Event organiser Mary Morrish said “We are really looking forward to something different and special on the morning of the 5 .”

Tickets are €20.00 and available at https://www.hopeshop.ie/iwd

Meanwhile at Munster Technology University (MTU), they will mark their first International Women’s Day as a new university, but also they welcome their female president, Prof. Maggie Cusack. The MTU Empowering Women 2021 is taking place virtually on Monday March 8. The event will include Sylvia Fouhy,VP Global Deliver, Medical Devices at Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems, New Jersey and Deirdre O’Connor, MD at Blackrock INC, a multinational investment management corporation based in New York City.

All welcome to attend. Register at https://mtuempoweringwomen.ie/

Also marking the day will be Sian Horn, The Straight Talking Business mentor and Founder Bebelle.ie. She decided to take on the challenge of interviewing 16 inspirational women in one day. She is working with the Republic of Work and will bring the interviews live every half an hour through Instagram. They are also hoping to raise money for Edel House. For more see https://sianhorn.com/

To mark International Women’s Day 2021, The Irish Examiner and sponsors Green &Black's want to invite you to their virtual live event on March 8, 2021, at 1pm.

From challenge comes change, never more so in this past extraordinary year. Join host, Life/Style editor Esther N McCarthy, and meet the Irish Examiner women who have made challenging the status quo their mission, both professionally and personally.

Panelists include Derval O'Rourke, Alison O'Connor, Aoife Moore, Clodagh Finn, plus a VERY special guest. Take a lunch break to remember and celebrate International Women's Day. Book here: https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-40232057.html

Meanwhile Bru Columbanus is also marking this International Women's Day with a fundraising event. People are being encouraged to say thank you or treat yourself to an afternoon tea, in a bid to raise funds for the charity.

Brú Columbanus is an independent charity that provides accommodation free of charge to relatives of seriously ill patients, this 26 bedroomed facility is located in Wilton, near the Cork University Hospital and the Cork Universtity Maternity Hospital. To support the charity you can purchase a delicious selection of sweet and savoury treats for you to enjoy in the comfort of your own home (€50 per person) or perhaps you would like to buy one as a gift for a front line worker in any of the Cork Hospitals. For further information please get in touch with AnneMaria at 021-4345754 or 087 2787074 or see eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/teaforbru-tickets-142504614137

Also marking IWD will be WiSTEM at UCC, from March 4 ro 13 with a number of events. Speakers will give presentations to 3rd level students and professionals interested in STEM. The conference is primarily aimed at 3rd level female students interested in STEM, but is open to all. The speakers for the day feature Paul Coughlan [COO ARUP], Mary O’Brien[General Manager IBM Security], Caroline Murnane [Thermofisher], Peter Brabazon [CEO of Specialisterne], Melissa Mooney[ author of the blog “Aspire and Me” ]and Alice Stephenson [Founder of Stephenson Law]. The events will take place remotely via Zoom & Microsoft Teams.

The International Women’s Day events are wide-ranging online events organised by WiSTEM UCC in collaboration With the UCC Law Society, UCC Engineering Society, UCC Science Society and UCC Philosoph Society.

Events will also be held in collaboration with outside bodies; Johnson & Johnson, Specialisterne, ARUP, ADHD Ireland along with national and international WiSTEM university societies.

The week consist of presentations, debates, Q&A’s and workshops on a variety of exciting fields within the study of STEM. In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to network and socialize with likeminded people from across Ireland and the USA. More details can be found by emailing wistem@uccsocieties.ie or on their social media accounts: Instagram: @wistemsocietyucc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UCCWiSTEM/ LinkedIn: WiSTEM Society UCC Twitter: @wistemucc 

WiSTEM is a society founded in August 2018 in UCC, their aim is to support women in UCC in achieving their full potential in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. 

Meanwhile, leading women in Irish business and media are among a panel of inspiring speakers taking part in an online seminar hosted by WIN, the Women’s Inspire Network, to mark International Women’s Day (IWD) on Monday, 8 March, next. The event is about clicking refresh, collaborating and thinking differently.

TV news reporter Zara King and former politician, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, join organiser Samantha Kelly, the Women’s Inspire Network founder feature.

Registration is €20, see https://win21refresh.heysummit.com

Another event, taking place nationally is in aid of Dress For Success. Sports, business and media leaders will speak at an International Women's Day event, in aid of Dress For Success.

An Post CEO David McRedmond, Irish International canoeist Jenny Egan and broadcaster Sonya Lennon will feature as part of the line up for a free online event that will examine the challenges to gender equality in Ireland, and provide practical steps to overcome them, on Monday, March 8, from 3pm to 4pm.

The event will consider the responsibilities for addressing gender inequality from a personal, professional and societal perspective, and feature practical insights from the experience of industry leaders on implementing change.

The event is open to all, but registration in advance is required and is available through dressforsuccessdublin.org.

The line up also includes Allison Keating, Author, Columnist, Chartered Psychologist and owner of bWell Clinic; Aoife Davey, Senior Marketing Director at One4all; and Tracey Carney, Managing Director of Business and Finance Media Group.

There will also be special contributions from Margot Slattery, Global Diversity and Inclusion Lead at Sodexo and Deirdre Mortell, CEO of Rethink Ireland.

Dress for Success founder Sonya Lennon said: "Challenging gender inequality requires the whole of society to get involved and to work collaboratively towards this common goal."

Meanwhile Self Help Africa will host a ‘WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP – CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES IN BUSINESS IN AFRICA” webinar on Monday, March 8, (9.30am-1130am) to mark International Women's Day.

Hosted by Self Help Africa, the event will feature voices from Africa and Europe speaking as women engaged in enterprise, investment and agriculture. It will look at both the obstacles and the opportunities for women in business in sub-Saharan Africa.

Speakers from Kenya, Uganda and Zambia will be joined by contributors from Norway and Belgium at the event, which will provide real life examples of the experiences of women working in Africa.

The webinar will take place from 9.30am to 11.30am on Monday, 8th March next, and will be moderated by Self Help Africa’s Director of Programmes, Orla Kilcullen. To register your interest visit: https://selfhelpafrica.org/ie/iwd2021/

See next week's WoW! March 3 for a special edition dedicated to International Women's Day.