 |
| Ronnie Dunn, President 2006-07, Optimist International |
Not only is it International Women's Day, it is also the 100th anniversary of the day being recognized by women around the world for their activism. In fact the day has blossomed into a month-long celebration of women in history or as I have often seen it playfully written in March herstory.
The International Women's Day website gives a wonderful timeline of what the day is all about noting that the day began as a movement to ensure equal rights for women in the increasingly industrialized society of New York, United States. It next spread to Copenhagen, Denmark and then on to Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Today it is recognized globally, in North and South America, Europe, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Google has made it easy to visualize the involvement by mapping the IWD celebrations with virtual check-ins around the world.
Optimist International is also celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and in that time there has been only one woman president. I thought this would be a good day to recognize her and say thank you for your service, leadership and Optimism. Thank you Ronnie Dunn for being the first and showing the way.
