As today marks International Women’s Day across the globe, we come together to celebrate the success of women and continue to advocate for continued and furthered opportunities.
Regardless of the genesis, our industry does have a gender imbalance, making women’s support that much more important. We have an incredible group of women here at Cardinal Path which is a testament to the work we do, as well as to Cardinal Path’s core cultural values; excellence rises and great work comes first. We welcome strong smart women to our team; so this is the perfect environment if you’re looking for a place to excel.
We sat down with some of our female leaders about what International Women’s Day means to them, and we asked them to share some of their proudest moments from the past year. Here’s what they said:
Mary Andrews, Director, Analysis & Insights
What Women’s Day means to Mary:
I honestly didn’t know about Women’s Day until last year… my niece, who works at Google, traveled the globe meeting amazing women and creating this awesome video (it still makes me cry it’s so beautiful!). To me, the day reminds me of the power of being a woman. It means that woman can do, and will continue to do, anything that we put our minds and energy into.
Proud Moment:
Watching my other niece move across the globe, far from her family, to Hawaii – to fulfill a dream of being an organic farmer. The pride I derived was from her telling me that I was her inspiration to make such a bold move in her life, and that she couldn’t have done it without me :).
Charlotte Bourne, Manager, Digital Intelligence
Proud moment:
My favorite moment happened just last week, when I looked around the room during a Digital Intelligence department meeting in Vancouver and noticed we had just as many women sitting at the table as we had men. This included JavaScript programmers from the Implementation team, analysts from the Insights team, and several data scientists. It was great to see Cardinal Path’s nerdiest, most technical, (and arguably best!) department with women involved in every aspect.
Danika Law, Staff Consultant, Data Science
What Women’s Day means to Danika:
I work with and am friends with so many women who work so hard, do such amazing things, and are super talented. Acknowledging this is part of what Women’s Day is about: we’ve come so far and should recognize our accomplishments with pride, while recognizing how much further we have to go.
Proud moment:
I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and confidence this past year: there are a lot of things I’m proud of. I’ve been encouraged and supported in so many ways to learn about interesting technologies, develop new product, and more. Having people ask me hard statistics and math questions and trusting my advice, and being given the platform to speak at company meetings and on the blog, are so valuable. I’m excited and proud of everything I’ve done with the data science department this year, and excited for what we will do next.
Michelle Versteeg, Senior Director, Marketing
What Women’s Day means to Michelle:
Today is about coming together and recognizing how far we’ve come, but also how far we’ve left to go.
Proud Moment:
One year ago this week, Cardinal Path was acquired by Dentsu Aegis Network, and my new colleagues – a majority of whom are women in marketing, communications and business development roles – immediately reached out to offer support and guidance. I’m inspired by the spirit of this team – both men and women – who clearly find strength in empowering others. It doesn’t hurt that Dentsu Aegis Network CMO, the unstoppable Donna Wiedekehr, is the kind of leader who demonstrates as much passion for her work life as she does for her personal pursuits, and with this perspective she helps set the tone for us all.
Irina Pessin, Managing Director
What Women’s Day means to Irina:
To me, Women’s Day is a day to pause and think about all the accomplishments, big or small, of women around the world and especially ones that arise in more difficult societies. I also view Women’s Day as another Mother’s Day (there aren’t enough Mother’s Days in the year!) where I pay tribute to my mum and all the mothers out there for their boundless love and devotion to their children.
Proud moment:
My proudest moment over the past year was to realize that, despite the fact that analytics is traditionally a male-dominated environment, over half of the members of my team are actually women! That was after someone jokingly asked me if I only hired women. It really made me think about it and conclude that these people were genuinely the best fits for their respective positions and continue to prove me right every day.
Janet Baratz, Program Manager
What Women’s Day means to Janet:
Women’s Day to me means celebrating women, especially the women that I know – my mom, sisters, daughter, friends and co-workers –and the strength, kindness, beauty and laughter that they radiate. My world would not be the same without them. Women’s Day is about celebrating those relationships and knowing that no matter what challenges we may face, we will always be there to support each other — usually with a glass of wine (well, maybe not for my daughter!).
Proud moment:
My proudest moment this year was working with my clients and co-workers to launch Google’s SheLeads program. The program is developed for women in digital agencies who are in the early years of their career, and helps to guide them through the gender disparities and biases that women often face in the workplace. The pilot event took place just a couple weeks ago and the response from the women attending was overwhelming – they felt more empowered, more confident and more prepared to move on in their career path. To be able to play a role in something that will help other women as they move forward in their lives was truly special.
