March 8, 2020, is International Women’s Day. This day means different things for different people and acknowledging this day is different for everyone. In some countries, today is a public holiday. In other countries, it’s a day of protest. For me, it’s a reminder to reflect on the women who have blazed a trail before me and have made steps I take every day easier (voting, working, driving, access to education). In particular, I reflect on the women who’ve shaped the industry I work in – women like Grace Hopper, Ada Lovelace, Betty Holberton, and Hedy Lamarr.
I’m proud to work for a company that champions diversity in its employees – not just in gender, but in our nationalities, our backgrounds, our workstyles and thinking and so many other dimensions. This mindset trickles down into every group and team. Here in the commercial marketplace team we strive to create the best marketplace for users to find, try, buy, and deploy cloud solutions and services. We want users to be able to explore not just the top solutions in each category but to be able to see range and diversity in their selection.
We have some great solutions in our commercial marketplace from female founded/female lead companies. Here are just a few you can find showcased this month:
We’ve included these solutions as part of a broader campaign at the company that showcases how Microsoft contributes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. We’re calling this campaign #BuildFor2030. Sustainable Development Goal #5 is gender equality so International Women’s Day is a great opportunity to showcase ways Microsoft is leaning in to gender equality not just internally as a company but the way we do business with our partner ecosystem. Stay tuned for future milestones in this campaign aligned to many other Sustainable Development Goals.
