08/03/2026
I've been thinking about Mackenzie Scott - an American novelist but who is best known as being the the ex wife of Jeff Bezos. Scott was awarded $38 billion dollars worth of Amazon stock after her divorce and she pledged to give the majority of that away during her lifetime.
To date she has given away $26 billion in (from what I have read) mostly 'no strong attached' gifts ... in other words, she lets the charities decide how the donated money should be used and doesn't expect her name to be put on buildings in return.
I've also been thinking about the book Half The Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn which I read about 20 years ago. The title comes from the Chinese proverb that women hold up half the sky which is ironic given how many women and girls are denied basic rights, trafficked for s*x or slavery, forced into marriage or simply left to die in childbirth from preventable causes.
Kristof and WuDunn put forth the argument that when you educate a girl, give her a small loan to help her start a business and keep her safe - communities change. Because a mother who is educated prioritises the education of her children.
There's the famous saying: "Give me an educated mother and I will give you an educated nation"
Why am I talking about this? I don't know really.
I guess there are a few things on my mind on this International Women's Day ...
1. The world feels like a garbage fire but what is very clear to me is that when women are given a seat at the table and put in positions of leadership alongside men (NOT REPLACING MEN BUT WORKING TOGETHER) -- we can turn this ship around. I truly believe that and I think it's already happening.
2. Days like today are about acknowledging the women who fought for the rights of women and also about celebrating the women around us doing incredible things (and by incredible I mean big public things and the equally powerful but less acknowledged impact of being caring neighbours and community members). And that's important! But we have to do more than that ... because there is still so much left to do.
3. I think IWD is a day to make sure we turn around and lift up the women around us who need a platform, whose work needs applification, or who are less privileged and who might be at risk of falling through the cracks.
HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Birds of a Feather Book Club is a new Ambassadors for 100 Women which is an Australian women's giving circle. Do you know what a giving circle is? I didn't until about 12 months ago. A giving circle is basically a group of people who pool their money together and collectively decide where to donate it. Instead of each person making small individual donations on their own, they combine their resources so they can make a bigger, more meaningful gift to causes they care about. So it's about being a FORCE FOR GOOD! I mean I can donate $25 to a charity but if 200 of us are willing to donate $25 -- suddenly we have $5000 to give together.
100 Women was founded by Western Australia's Alicia Curtis and the idea is to find women who are wiling to donate $25 a month to go towards charities and not for profits which improve the lives and opportunities for women and girls both around Australia and around the world. It's an incredible charity and since they started 100 Women have given away more than $1 million in grants.
What kinds of things do they fund? Their four pillars are HEALTH, EDUCATION, SAFETY and ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY.
So (for example) they've given $50,000 to Healing Smiles which provides free, comprehensive trauma-informed dental treatment to female victims of family and domestic violence. Let me put this bluntly - when you've had your teeth knocked out it affects your self confidence. So this charity steps in to offer free trauma informed treatment to survivors of violence.
What else? Money was given to an Adolescent Girls project in India which has been designed to disrupt the practice of young girls being forced into early marriage before they are 18. The project was designed to drive intergenerational change by providing at-risk girls with training and education on how to navigate this challenging practice.
So if you're looking for a way to really support women this International Women's Day --- why not join Jane and me in being a part of 100 Women?
Come be a force for good in 2026.
You can read more about 100 Women here: https://100women.org.au/
If you can spare $25 a month, you can be part of the force for good. Come join us!
