# Be Bold for Change
International Women ’ s Day on 8 March 2017 celebrated the social , economic , cultural and political achievements of women .
To mark the day , we ran a special panel session at Colwell on closing the gender gap that was simultaneously broadcast across Viridian and AmicusHorizon .
The World Economic Forum predicts the gender gap won ’ t close entirely until 2186 , so what can we do about it ?
We all need to help to do our bit to ‘ put gender on the agenda ’.
Everyone - men and women - can take steps to help achieve gender parity more quickly .
This could be to help women and girls achieve their ambitions , make a call for gender-balanced leadership , respect and value differences , develop more inclusive and flexible cultures or root out workplace bias .
Each of us can take small steps to achieve big differences !
AmicusHorizon ran a campaign for junior , female colleagues to shadow a senior director at a strategic meeting . This was to encourage and inspire career progression and drive real change for women in the workplace .
# Lovewins
February was LGBT History Month , when we celebrated and recognised LGBT ( Lesbian , Gay , Bisexual and Transgender ) people and culture in the present day and throughout history . Most significantly , this year marks 50 years since the decriminalisation of sex between men over 21 in England and Wales .
We hosted a number of events across the month that championed some great pioneers from LGBT history .
Closer to home , we also shone a spotlight on the life stories of some of our own LGBT colleagues at Viridian and AmicusHorizon . Romy Rook , Matt Campion , Kerry Tromanhauser and Kate Dodsworth all wrote pieces on their experiences of Coming Out and how important it is to create a workspace where people are encouraged to be themselves .
You can read their blogs here .
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