5 Ways to Celebrate Women’s History Month

March 1 kicked off Women’s History Month, and hopefully you’ve been celebrating and exploring the well-known trailblazers, glass ceiling breakers, and those who persisted. It’s a great month to reflect on your own history, to read stories of famous women, and to applaud all the hard-won accomplishments of every-day women. It’s also a fantastic time to pay it forward and support today’s girls, women and change-makers with their dreams, goals and plans for tomorrow.

Pass the torch, uplift, encourage and lend your support to today’s girls and women:

Celebrate your own family history and share it.‍

Write it down and share your stories with your daughters and granddaughters—so they can draw inspiration from the women in their family. Think about meaningful life events, struggles and fun times.Through memories, photos and letters, reminisce about those who have gone before to encourage perseverance to younger generations. Family members might be surprised or inspired by the interesting tales you tell.

Donate resources to benefit girls and women.‍

While women have made great strides, there’s still work todo. Many female-focused organizations need support. You may want to help a local women’s shelter or an activity-based nonprofit like girlsontherun.org, girlscouts.org or girlsforchange.org. If you want to see women’s education continue to grow, you may consider a mentor program like Step Up. Contributing your own skills and support by mentoring or tutoring (whether in person or virtually) can have just as much impact as money.

Support Local Women Entrepreneurs.‍

In the last few years, Washington, D.C. has become a hub for female entrepreneurs. A 2018 study conducted for American Express touted the area as one of the top 10 U.S. cities for employment growth from woman-owned businesses. From restaurants and distilleries to hair salons and improv theater, explore local businesses to support and lift up women in your community.

Create a virtual or resident book club and focus on women authors.‍

A good book has the power to change the way we look at the world. So, if you’re part of a book club, suggest focusing on women writers and topics in the genre of choice for the month ofMarch. Check out the 2022 list from goodreads.com for great recommendations from other readers.

Listen to women-hosted podcasts.‍

If you haven’t tried podcasts yet, you’re missing out! Here are 3 excellent ways to start listening to women-hosted podcasts:

1. Fresh Air, the PeabodyAward-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Fresh Air with Terry Gross

2. Exploring the biggest questions of our time with the help of the world's greatest thinkers. TED Radio Hour with Manoush Zomorodi

3. On Being with Krista Tippet explores life’s big questions: What does it mean to be human? How do we want to live? And who will we be to each other? Each week anew discovery about the immensity of our lives.

In honor of #WomensHistoryMonth, we encourage you to participate in supporting and celebrating all the ways in which women and girls are making things happen.