Celebrating International Women’s Day
March 8th is celebrated around the world as International Women’s Day! International Women’s Day was created to support and promote women’s rights. Today we celebrate all the women around the world!
Background Information
Let’s jump into a little history. International Women’s Day grew from the early 20th century to promote women’s rights. The Socialist Party of America in 1909 hosted the first National Women’s Day. Sooner than later, women caught on and on March 19th, 1911, over one million women got together worldwide to have peaceful rallies to support the movement.
The Three Colors
Purple, green, and white are the three colors which represent International Women’s Day. Purple represents justice and dignity, green symbolizes hope, while white signifies purity. The colors originated from the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the UK in 1908.
GLE Women Employees Thoughts
Precision Machinists: “A lot of women go through rough patches in life. Some people lose their jobs and are just in need of a job at a young age. Others just want to expand their knowledge of the world around them. Joining this team has brought on many new challenges, but the continued successes and growth outweigh the challenges.”
Customer Service Team Member: “I have been with GLE for a year now. I came to work here because I moved from Grand Rapids MI to Flint MI to take care of my mom. I worked at my previous job for 23 years and it was for a large non-profit. The move into manufacturing has been a learning curve and a challenge. I chose green because it signifies growth, and you are never too old to grow and learn things. New beginnings.”
Sales Team Member: “I have been with GLE for a little over a year and a half now. I went to a local university and studied mechanical engineering. One of my friends was in my current role at the time and was switching from a Sales Engineer to a Manufacturing engineer role, so there was an opening. I was finishing up my last classes and thought it would be a good opportunity for me to use the technical skills I had acquired from college, while also utilizing my outgoing personality. I chose purple, because being a woman in a typically male dominated field is sometimes an uphill battle. I think it is important to work somewhere and with people who recognize the importance of equality in the workplace.”
Sales Team Member: “From a young age, I knew I wanted to go into the engineering field. Growing up in Michigan, manufacturing is in our blood. I really liked math and science, problem solving and figuring out how things worked. I didn’t know how challenging going through mechanical engineering school would be, but it was well worth the headaches. I graduated the only female in my class. Being a mechanical engineer gives you so much diversity in the field you want to work in- sales, quality, R&D- the opportunities are limitless. Today I wore purple because so many times in life I had to give myself a pep talk and tell myself I could do hard things.”
Business Co-op: “Senior year I was taking a graphic’s class at the Bay City ISD. My first choice of career was to become a graphic designer and a photographer. GLE came to the Bay City ISD to represent themselves looking for business development co-ops and machinist’s co-ops. I gave them my resume at the event and from there the magic started to happen. I got accepted into their co-op program and they have offered me so many opportunities. I lovie the job and getting to know the people around me, so much that I decided to change to career path! Now I am going to be majoring in business. I have chosen to wear white because with all the decisions I have made they all have been made with thought and honesty.
