In 1908 15,000 fed-up women took to the streets of New York demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights, and voilà, the seeds of International Women’s Day were sown. A century later, International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8 and involves thousands of events run by individuals, governments and companies around the world.

This year Accenture, the consultancy firm, ran simultaneous events in 26 countries, at 49 locations, attended by 6,000 people, under the theme of “women in a multipolar world”. Its event in London was held at London’s Emirates Stadium, which “whether you support Arsenal or not, is a place that has a lot of success and achievement around it”, says Fiona Gibson, a senior executive at Accenture, and the main organiser of this year’s London event. “It is really a celebration of women’s achievements and their successes, both inside Accenture and outside in their everyday lives – and it’s part of our plan to attract, retain and promote women, and to keep them happy and motivated.”

About 500 people, 93 per cent of them women, from the company’s UK practice attended the event at the Emirates Stadium, double the number from last year.

With not a football in sight, the day was centred on workshops, panel discussions and speakers, including Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former director-general of the Security Service, and Sally Gunnell, the Olympic 400m hurdles champion.

“It is difficult not to be inspired by hearing some of the experiences of our speakers and guests, particularly in how they have overcome various hurdles in their chosen careers,” says Ismail Amla, UK lead, human capital and diversity, at Accenture.

The event was not thrown together at the last minute on a shoestring. Planning started last November with weekly conference calls between lead co-ordinators, each of whom had their own local teams, to iron out themes and agendas. “A lot of time, effort and money,” says Gibson. “But it’s a very important aspect of our accent on women in the inclusion and diversity programme for the firm. And it’s been highly successful.”

“It is very motivating and inspiring listening to female speakers and meeting other female colleagues who are all independent, successful women,” says Camilla Drejer, an employee at Accenture, who went to the event for the second year in a row.

“It has certainly made me more focused and determined to do exceptionally well in my position, and inspired and motivated me to do more to ensure that the accomplishments that have taken place within the organisation are maintained.”

This theme of finding the event “inspirational and motivational”, says Gibson, is the general feedback from everybody who attended, regardless of their level in the company, or indeed their sex.

“For me it was one of the most inspirational conferences that I’ve attended, whether inside or outside Accenture,” Gibson says, “because the whole theme was about celebrating achievement.

“It was linked to things that were relevant to the job you do in terms of business, but it was also relevant to opening your mind to what is really going on in the world out there.”

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