Happy International Women's Day!

International Women's Day commemorates the achievements of women worldwide. It was first celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on March 19, 1911. It is now celebrated annually on March 8th and is marked as an official holiday in several countries.  The United States, in particular, has expanded the initiative by dedicating the entire month of March to women's history.

Women have made many strides in the past couple of years, especially when it comes to business. In fact, it is predicted that by the year 2028, the average American woman will out-earn the average American man.

Recently, Forbes compiled a list of the world’s 20 most powerful women in business. Bellow are ten of my favorites:

• Sheryl Sandberg- COO of Facebook

Saw the company through its $100 billion IPO this past May and is now part of its board of directors.

• Indra Nooyi- chairman and CEO of PepsiCo

A consistent ranker on Forbes' list of powerful women. In 2012 she returned $5.6 billion to shareholders and had the net revenue grow 14% to 66 billion.

• Virginia Rometty- Chairman and CEO of IBM

A 30-year IBM veteran, she is the first woman to ever head the century-old company.

• Ursula Burns- Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corp

Is strategically trying to re-frame the company as a service business instead of just a seller of printers and copiers.

• Marissa Mayer- CEO of Yahoo!

Previous employee of Google, she is now working on leveraging Yahoo's franchises in email, finance and sports.

• Anne Sweeney- Co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television Group

Oversees ABC Studios, ABC Television Network and Disney Channels, over 100 channels that reach 600 million viewers in 169 countries.

• Arianna Huffington- Co-founder of online newspaper The Huffington Post

The site sold to AOL in early 2011 and won its first Pulitzer Prize for national reporting this year. She is now focused on expanding globally, working on new launches in Spain and Italy.

• Diane Von Furstenberg- Designer

Began designing in 1970 with $30,000. Is president of the Council of Fashion Designers of American (CFDA) and helped launch Fordham Law's Fashion Law Institute and the campaign, You Can't Fake Fashion, cosponsored by the CFDA and eBay to raise awareness against counterfeit goods.

• Mary Barra- SVP of Global Product Development at General Motors

The highest-ranking woman at General Motors. Oversees 36,000 people and leads the design, engineering and quality of its11 global brands.

• Sue Naegle- President of Time Warner's HBO Entertainment 

Oversees all series programming and specials, juggling $100 million dollar budgets on huge global success programming.

Inspired to celebrate?
 

Event:  INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY PARTY

Where: Empire Room 350 Fifth Avenue

When: March 8, 2013 @ 9pm

Description: Music by DJ Vovan & DJ Max Layn.  Face/Body Painting by Elisabeth Belomlinsky.  Photography by JPZ Image.  Belly Dancing by Kaitlin.

But remember, there are still strides to be met:

Event: ZERO TOLERANCE: END MISOGYNY

Where: Union Square, NYC 14th Street and Broadway

When: March 8, 2013 @ 6pm

Description: RAISE THE VOICES OF WOMEN...Join us to read aloud powerful quotes by women.

Bring quotes that inspire you. THEN WE WILL WALK THROUGH THE STREETS OF NEW YORK CITY BEGINNING AT 6:00pm