Financial Women of San Francisco’s Second Annual International Women’s Day Event a Stellar Success

By Caity Shreve, FWSF MarComm Committee

“This year, the International Women’s Day theme is #BalanceForBetter — and it couldn’t come at a better time, when we are striving to rise above pay inequity, gender harassment, and other limiting factors.”— Kathy Wheadon, FWSF President

Those rousing words from Financial Women of San Francisco (FWSF) President Kathy Wheadon helped kick off the 2019 International Women’s Day (IWD) event (co-sponsored by Wharton’s MBA Program for Executives, SF, and CFA Society of San Francisco) and perfectly embodied the intentions of the sold-out gathering on March 7 at Wharton San Francisco.

IWD Wristbands

The worldwide discourse and celebrations that occurred on IWD this year, including FWSF’s event, focused not only on fully recognizing the challenges faced by women, but also on working towards finding concrete solutions that women can apply to their lives as they strive for equality.

Speakers Set the Stage: “Never Underestimate the Power of One”

Bay Area attorney Teveia Barnes gave an inspirational and moving keynote address. Formerly a commissioner of the California Department of Financial Institutions and executive director of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank), Ms. Barnes encouraged the audience to draw inspiration from courageous and inspiring women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, among others, and challenged them to never “underestimate the power of one.”

IWD Event

After the keynote speaker, the sold-out audience of 150 women and men broke off into roundtable discussions. These smaller group conversations offered an intimate environment to discuss topics that tied seamlessly into the #BalanceforBetter theme. Sessions covered handling implicit bias, recommendations for becoming an ally, the art of inclusion, developing financial independence, and creating a path for women serving on corporate boards.

“The purpose of our event really is to address not only the challenges that we as women face in the workplace, but to provide a solutions-oriented exploration of those challenges…women who attend our event will come away with not only a day of celebrating women, but also will be empowered by the solutions to some of the issues that we face.” — Sue Mazzetti, FWSF VP, Programs