Looking back in time, women have come a long way to arrive at this year’s Women’s History Month: globally, women have increasingly gained voting rights, reproductive rights, and more representation in politics than ever. While Women’s History Month is a time to celebrate these gains, it is certainly not a time to be complacent.
Today women are still undervalued, earning 63 cents for every $1 a man earns, not to mention the unpaid care disproportionately performed by women and girls. It was only 8 years ago that women received the right to vote in Saudi Arabia, and less than a year ago the right to drive a car there. Of Fortune 500 companies in the US, the 24 women CEOs are outnumbered by CEOs named James. All of this is to say that though progress has been made, we still have a long road ahead.
At Yelp, we’re supporting, celebrating, and honoring our women employees, local women-owned businesses, and women that have shaped history and modern society. Externally, we partnered with Rebecca Minkoff on an attribute that allows female business owners to self-identify as a “Women-Owned Business” on their Yelp page, and distributed an accompanying window decal we created to thousands of women-owned businesses.
Internally, our Women At Yelp (WAY) employee resource group (ERG) hosted events across all our offices to celebrate the month, help women advance their careers, and support women-owned businesses in the community.
In Phoenix, WAY geared up for an eventful first week. They hosted a fitness class led by owner, founder, & instructor Raquel K. at Fit 6,7,8 and a business owner panel featuring three Scottsdale women-owned businesses (sweetDees Bakeshop, Young Art Studio, and Jaqueline Hannah Photography). On March 8, International Women’s Day, women leaders in the office shared career and life hacks with self-identified women over breakfast catered by Bertha’s Cafe.
At our headquarters in San Francisco, WAY hosted La Cocina, a nonprofit working to solve problems of equity in business ownership for women, immigrants, and people of color.
The organization is a multi-year recipient from the Yelp Foundation for its outstanding work in local economic and community development. The panelists included Leticia Landa from La Cocina, Tina Stevens from A Girl Named Pinky, Lamees Dahbour from Mama Lamees, and Nafy Flatley from Teranga Juice.
In Chicago, guest speaker Beth Burns, a financial empowerment coach, speaker, workshop facilitator and author, shared with women and allies reflections on career growth and tactical financial advice. Burns’s most recent book, Inner Strength, follows her financial successes and pitfalls in hopes of financially empowering more women through her knowledge and experience. Employees left the event inspired and with strategies to create and improve their financial roadmaps.
Meanwhile, in our Washington, D.C. and New York offices, women leaders in each office hosted panels to share stories from their career and coach attendees to be confident in themselves at work.
It was moving to see so many women and allies across different departments, tenures, and backgrounds at Yelp rally to advance women at Yelp and in the world. While there’s still so much work that remains, we’re proud to say that we think the women and allies of Yelp are ready to lead the charge. Their tenacity, time, and care improve our workplace and culture, and we can’t wait to report back next year with more of their feats.
