Inspirational and impactful women improve the world every day at Marine Credit Union. Collections Manager, Hannah Dickinson, brought forth the idea to celebrate International Women’s Day company-wide this March. As a proud supporter of employee appreciation and female empowerment, Marine took on a special initiative to say thank-you and highlight the voices of women across the company.
Knowing the women of Marine play such an important role in the company, there was no question whether or not to highlight such talent. In honor of the holiday and Marine’s continued focus on employee appreciation, the idea was immediately pursued. A powerful group of ladies came together to create a new platform for the women of Marine to be heard. The project became high priority as the new platform, titled “coffee chat” was created.
“International Women’s Day Coffee Chat” was held Thursday, March 11th. Coworkers company-wide joined via Zoom to listen to and learn from the experiences of a panel of female Marine leaders. Over 100 coworkers joined as more than a dozen women across Marine in a variety of positions, tenures, backgrounds and journeys shared their stories.
The meeting began with the reminder why celebrating the women of Marine and all employees is so important:
“Love, justice, and success are infinite and meant for all. We celebrate each other’s successes, we champion one another, we amplify each other’s voices and we demand seats for all women, people of color, and all marginalized people at every single table where decisions are made. The future is not about competing for a singular seat at the old table, but rather the future is about uniting to build a bigger table… I am proud to be a part of the Marine team where I look around and see our female leaders highlighted all the time. I get so excited every time.” – Jennifer Schlegel, Training and Development Manager
Topics including significant barriers women in business experience, inspiring women role models, incorrect assumptions about women, what challenges future women will overcome, and even advice for the next generation were discussed. Chief Operating Officer, Katie Tolokken, shared the advice she would give to her younger self, “Never lose your belief in your ability to accomplish anything you set your mind to.”
After the hour long coffee chat came to a close, coworkers were given access to additional resources to continue learning and celebrating International Women’s Day. Not only was a recording of the virtual coffee chat shared, but additional responses from women who could not join the meeting were also published. The full and more in-depth answers from the panel were also provided for review and reflection.
The event was a powerful, inspirational, and at times emotional reminder of just how amazing women are. It truly reminded every coworker of the value they have. Thank you, women of Marine, for the positive difference you make every day! You are an excellent example of the value the company holds.
