Women lead: Work, home, community and beyond

This month, Adobe is celebrating International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month with events and activities led by our Women at Adobe employee network exploring the theme: Women Lead: Work, Home, Community & Beyond. Our goal is to spark conversations that expand and broaden our definition of leadership, recognize where women are leading in our company, culture, and community, and help everyone build and amplify their own unique leadership styles.

We all have ideas about what leadership is and what it isn’t. Some of these concepts are rooted in the communities in which we were raised, and others were adopted from leaders we know. Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that the definition is inclusive and broad — reflecting the different styles, qualities, and capabilities of leadership.

Two critical leadership capabilities are top of mind for me right now: empathy and flexibility. Whether it is burnout or childcare or health concerns, we’ve all been stretched, and I can only lead successfully if I try to understand and empathize with where my teams are. Things have not been “normal” for a long time, and I’ve been proud that Adobe’s leadership has enables us all to pause, reflect on what’s working or not, and take action to put employee wellbeing first.

And I’m excited for this month’s opportunities to refresh our concepts of leadership to better meet emerging challenges in our companies and communities.

Celebrating Women at Adobe

Throughout the month, Adobe will highlight a wide variety of leadership styles and perspectives. We’re proud to host humanitarian and activist Elizabeth Nyamayaro for a conversation around how her initiative HeForShe engages allies in building gender equality. In celebration of International Women’s Day, Adobe’s vice president of corporate development, Hannah Elsakr will join a panel hosted by Forbes with other industry leaders discussing how to build a more equitable future. Tune in on March 10. We’ll also sponsor a panel of senior Adobe leaders Kira Dales, Cris Radu, and Tara Rule discussing the spectrum of leadership styles and sharing advice about how to develop your unique skills.

Finally, we’ll end the month with an event spotlight the leadership and creativity of women across Adobe’s global sites including entertaining employee talent acts, personal employee stories, and more.

This year, Women at Adobe is raising funds for Malala Fund — an international non-profit organization advocating for girls' education. Additionally, Adobe recently launched the Equity and Advancement Initiative to invest in 11 leading non-profit partners addressing systemic barriers to opportunity and fighting racial and social inequities in our global community. One of those organizations, Equality Now, focuses on driving gender equality through structural change and addressing the root causes of oppression. Through this investment, Adobe will continue to advocate for gender equity across the globe.

Amplifying women creators

At Adobe we understand the power creativity has and why it’s so important to have greater representation for women creators. Not only so they can share their stories, but help support other women creators get their perspectives out in the world.

As Adobe’s CMO and Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Development, Ann Lewnes stated, “Film is one of the most powerful mechanisms for storytelling. They can change the way we see the world and even how we see ourselves in the world.” This is why it’s vital to have diverse representation in film, to be able to show the world more perspectives. Through our partnership with IndieWire we are showcasing the 20 Women in Film to Watch, celebrating breakout women filmmakers. We are also hosting a panel titled, "The Future of Filmmaking is Female,” with Robbie Brenner, Isabel Castro, Maliyamungu Muhande and Shaandiin Tome, moderated by Ann Lewnes. The panelists will share their personal experiences, challenges overcome and what they’re hopeful for through the lens of women filmmakers. Tune in on March 24.

To advance mentorship for women in creativity, Adobe has teamed up with Create & Cultivate in support of Women Create to amplify the stories of inspiring women — across industries, cultures and geographies — who are using their creativity to create meaningful and lasting change. Tune in on March 17 to our mentorship session featuring photographer and director Meiko Takechi Arquillos.

This month, our social channels will feature the work of women creators, including our weekly social series, Women Create Wednesday, featuring Zaria Parvez, Emmy Meli, Maliha Abidi, Emonee LaRussa and Meiko Takechi Arquillos. In celebration of International Women’s Day, we’re inviting our community to nominate women creators to be featured across our channels, with five to be selected and shared during March.

Thanks to our amazing group of leaders from Women at Adobe and across our marketing organization who have worked so tirelessly to bring together these global events, to create community for women and allies, and to help us all expand our definition of leadership.

This is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge how and where women are leading — at work, at home, and everywhere else. Take a moment to recognize those women.