Empowering companies to Accelerate Action for equitable workplaces

Rachel Thomas, Co-founder and CEO, LeanIn.Org

 IWD 2025

This International Women’s Day, Lean In is joining forces with IWD to empower companies to Accelerate Action.

This year’s IWD feels more important than ever. In workplaces around the globe, women face systemic bias and barriers that hold them back. Women are far more likely than men to be unfairly judged or challenged at work. Research shows that bias often leads to missed opportunities in hiring and lower performance ratings for women — both can have a major impact on women’s career progression. And year over year, Lean In’s Women in the Workplace report shows that women are consistently overlooked at the first critical promotion to manager. In 2024, for every 100 men promoted to manager, just 81 women received promotions. And the promotion gaps for Latinas and Black women are even bigger.

There has been real progress in advancing women. Women now hold 29% of C-suite positions, up from only 17% in 2017. And companies have expanded policies to support parents, caregivers and employees struggling with health challenges. But, companies need to be mindful about staying true to the core principles that got us this far.

That’s where Lean In comes in. Our programs offer women the leadership development and peer mentorship they need to excel and give all employees tools to improve the culture of work.

Lean In Circles create a space for employees to come together to learn new skills, give and get advice, and encourage each other to take action. Circle members consistently report they learn how to be better leaders and foster more valuable mentorship relationships. In addition, Circles have a particularly positive impact on the women who participate in them: 98% credit their Circle with a positive change [at work], such as having a stronger network and feeling their company is more invested in their success.

Circles are self organizing and open to all employees by design. Although the Circles’ experience is tailored for early and mid-career women, the program is beneficial to anyone who wants to connect with a group of coworkers around a shared interest or goal. We provide step-by-step guides to help structure meetings, facilitate group discussion, and keep engagement high.

50 Ways to Fight Bias is a free training program that takes the guesswork out of identifying and interrupting the biases women can experience at work. The program consists of two parts: a short video that explains the five major types of bias and a card activity where small groups of participants discuss specific examples of bias, brainstorm solutions together and learn research-backed recommendations for what to do. The digital “cards” highlight over 50 instances of workplace bias. To get started, download one of the card sets to run an introductory session or explore the program materials.

International Women’s Day serves as a powerful reminder that the fight for equality for all women is far from over. By bringing 50 Ways to Fight Bias or Lean In Circles to your company, you can make a real
impact in advancing women and creating a more equitable workplace for all employees.