Dear

Some of you may recognise that #ChooseToChallenge is the slogan for this year's International Women's Day on 8th March. 

I was surprised and delighted to be named as one of 100 women who "Chose to Challenge in 2020" for an event run by NatWest Bank 

If you're free on Monday between 10.00 -11.00 am please come along and join us and hear from some of the other women who've been chosen to take part. 

Why was I suprised to be named? 

I guess I was surprised because challenging the staus quo isn't something I chose to do in 2020, its who I am.

The early part of my career was spent helping employers implement equal opportunities legislation and I’ve been challenging every form of discrimination for four decades - often despairing at how many times we slip back to the 1980's - as Taylor Swift remarked this week (although she said 2010 because she's a lot younger than me.) 

What happened in 2020 was that people started thinking about and sharing much more of the things that really matter to them. In Drive the Network we had over 4,500 conversations that allowed people to connect through their values and support each other in astonishing ways and that has continued all this year. I don't see us ever going back to treating people simply as clients or suppliers. Everyone who has lived through the past 12 months is irrevocably changed - and strangely, although its been painful, I think it will eventually prove to be for the better. 

The Next Challenge 

Don't ask me how - all I know is I'm excited to see so many smart people working on making things better than they were before, and so many of us mere mortals doing our bit to help it along. More re-using, re-purposing and re-cycling. More ethical, eco friendly choices. Less consumerism, greed and corruption (maybe that one has a way to go yet ...) but overall there seems to be a push not to go back what we had before. 

In my quest to prove that everyone is much more than their business and that curiosity is is the key to discovering interesting things, our 'ED (not quite TED) Talks are open to everyone who has a passion to share. You can watch all the recordings on an astonishing variety of topics and find out how to volunteer to do your own by clicking the button. Join us any Friday lunchtime for some fun. 

As always, I'd love to know what you're doing, how you're faring, what's firing you up, what you're struggling with or what's making life worth living! Hit reply and let me know ... 

If you can come along to the IWD event on Monday, I'd love to see you on the screen. 

And when we're all released to the wild again, perhaps I'll see you in person! 

Best wishes
Ann