We were moved by the passionate remarks of all our speakers including our GGT student participants and their school principal, we were buoyed up by the energy and engagement of the audience, and we were humbled and delighted by the extent of support in the room for our work. Thanks to everyone's generous support, we raised almost HK$2mn for our research and programmes. We are very grateful to our main sponsors - Thomson Reuters and EY, all our table hosts - both corporates and individuals, and everyone who made a pledge, bid in the auction and bought a lucky packet, for their contribution to this stellar result. You can still participate in the auction relating to The Landmark Mandarin Oriental’s unique photo exhibition celebrating women’s empowerment. Each photo of a celebrated female icon is paired with a special experience involving the subject of the photo.
 
Our keynote speaker last Friday, Gary Liu – CEO of South China Morning Post Publishers, Ltd – gave a personal and powerful talk about being an outsider for most of his life. Our 600 strong audience found his story mesmerising and none of us will easily forget the challenge he posed to everyone: “Build companies and products that pursue and celebrate diversity of thought. Put your energy into creating discourse whether in your own office or amongst your users.” Gary's full speech is available here.
 
In other IWD happenings, last week Austcham’s Women in Business Network hosted its annual Great Debate which this year had the memorable motion of ‘Trumped! Women’s Progress has Reached its Peak’ .
 
Looking ahead, this evening, the French Chamber in partnership with the Women’s Exchange at HKEX and supported by TWF and the University of Hong Kong, will be hosting a IWD gathering celebrating HeforShe. TWF is delighted to be the charity beneficiary for the event which will showcase male leaders championing women’s advancement in the workplace. Other IWD events this week include a number of She Objects screenings hosted by a slew of corporate partners and schools, various women's networks gatherings and Hong Kong’s first Women of Wine Festival on Friday. 
 
However and whatever you are doing to celebrate IWD - we hope you have fun and remember this year's inspirational official theme: #BeBoldForChange! As always, we would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and actions that have been inspired by this year's International Women's Day. Please write to me at su-mei.thompson@twfhk.org. I look forward to hearing from you!