Two important dates bookend this week: Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, an international recognition of women in business (November 19th) and Thanksgiving in the U.S. (November 23rd). Both are days of support and celebration, days to highlight community and to recommit to the work of breaking down barriers.
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, supported by the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WeDO). WeDO describes itself as a “movement [that] was founded with a mission to bring awareness to girls living in poverty worldwide and empower women across the globe! By celebrating, supporting, and uplifting women entrepreneurs worldwide, we’re creating a more equitable world for women through the power of entrepreneurship.” WeDO’s focus on local action in a global context really resonates with me because it responds to individual needs rather than imposes a single version of their mission.
The annual WeDO Summit at the United Nations, also available globally via livestream, highlights Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. The summit features talks from inspiring women and networking, all serving to bring awareness to the global impact of economically-empowered women.
Perhaps the most important contribution of the WeDO Summit is its annual action to advance six of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: 1. No Poverty, 4. Quality Education, 5. Gender Equality, 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth, 10. Reduced Inequalities, and 17. Partnerships for the Goals. Viable progress only happens when everyone advances, which is why WeDO’s structure of making progress on its own mission and the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals simultaneously is a crucial model for tackling complicated and interlinked systemic issues. No top-down solution will ever solve a global issue, but neither will isolated local initiatives. A combination of global and local perspectives must be part of any effective social and economic policy.
From providing funding through scholarships, micro loans, and grants to providing entrepreneurship and financial literacy education, WeDO is improving the lives of women globally through specific, locally-relevant initiatives. The organization’s Social Impact page has more information and data about how their work transforms the world.
WeDO also supports women entrepreneurs outside of its formal programs. They have a variety of start-up resources for planning, building, and growing your business. Need help with legal resources? Capital and finance management? Tools for helping everything run smoothly? WeDO has a hub that brings everything the new entrepreneur needs together in one easily accessible place.
Thanksgiving in the United States
When I was growing up in New England, Thanksgiving came with a large side dish of heavily-idealized Pilgrim lore, complete with buckled shoes and tall hats. The prevailing narrative of The First Thanksgiving was one of harvest, friendship between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, a peaceful exchange of culture and support.
Thankfully, today we share a more accurate and nuanced understanding of that event, including frankly acknowledging how little we actually know about what happened on that day. The specific tribe was the Mashpee Wampanoag, not generic Native Americans. Deer was the main protein, and the meal itself was more likely to have been in September or October, immediately following the harvest.
However, this better understanding goes far beyond correcting a few mistakes in popular culture. The work to recontextualize the early settlers’ experience recognizes tribal people’s dislocation from their lands and erasure from long-dominant historical narratives. Names have power, and one way in which tribes were removed from their land was by giving places and natural features of the landscape new names in English. This, of course, is not unique to the Pilgrims’ settlement of New England or even to America as a whole.
Many organizations are taking the first restorative steps to redress these injustices of the past. One example is the living history site that recreates 17th-century Pilgrim life, long a staple of the region’s school field trips. What used to be Plimoth Plantation is now Plimoth Patuxet Museums in order to properly re-center the tribal people who lived there long before English settlers arrived. While further work remains to be done to present the Wampanoag community to the same degree as the site’s English village, generations of kids will begin their exploration of this period with a much more balanced perspective than my field trips gave me.
Even as we refine our view of history, Thanksgiving continues to center on food and community. Some people gather with family, with the day serving almost as a mini reunion. Others celebrate Friendsgiving with those they’re close to. For many, the fourth Thursday of November is a day to serve those who have less, volunteering at a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or other organization that serves the poor.
However it’s observed, Thanksgiving is about sharing bounty and traditions. Our family’s Thanksgiving has evolved through phases of must-have dishes (yams with marshmallow topping, anyone?), high school football games, and the mostly-friendly debate about canned jellied cranberry sauce vs homemade cranberry relish (we are a dual household: Team Homemade Cranberry Relish for Thanksgiving dinner, jellied cranberry sauce for leftover sandwiches; the ridges make for easy slicing!). One feature remains the same, though: the back porch becomes a convenient 2nd fridge in late November’s cold.
Entrepreneurship and Community
Celebrating Women’s Entrepreneurship Day and Thanksgiving in the same week makes me mindful of my life’s many advantages.
I’m grateful to be on this entrepreneurial journey with Kirsten and Rourke Training. Getting to work on a vision with one of my closest friends is a treat. We have a strong friendship that will withstand the many challenges of starting a new business. We can choose the values our company embodies and create for ourselves a workplace culture that supports genuine work & life balance.
I’m thankful for my many communities – family, friends, colleagues – whose support makes all the difference. Some actively come forward with resources and welcome advice. Some are always available with a sympathetic ear. Some cheer loudly from the back row even if they don’t have a clear view of what’s happening. However they show up for me, I really appreciate that they do, again and again.
I’m also motivated, in this double-observance, to continue serving our community: helping speakers’ voices be heard so their message can change the world. I know this phrasing is kind of corny, and I’m ok with that. Passion drives commitment, commitment drives change.
How about you?
Are you an entrepreneur? How has this past year been for you? Has your business benefited from being part of a community? Does your work support and uplift your community?
If you celebrate Thanksgiving, what’s on the table? Do you host or visit? Which dishes are non-negotiable and which can you switch up a little bit? What’s the best way to eat leftovers and why is it a sandwich made with potato bread, turkey, stuffing, jellied cranberry sauce, and mayo, with just a sprinkle of salt?
Tell us about it in the comments.
Check Out Our YouTube Channel
The Rourke Training – Ongoing Mastery YouTube channel has a bit of something for everyone. Go there to get Kirsten’s take on examples of public speaking, as well as reflections on her entrepreneurial journey. The channel is also the home of the podcast Kirsten and Kellie produced for 5 years, Ongoing Mastery: Presenting & Speaking, which covers everything connected to continually improving your craft of being a public speaker, from interviews and mini-coaching sessions with guests to conversations between Kirsten and Kellie.
Come join us. Cheers, Kellie