During Women’s History Month, celebrating women leading top academic institutions is well-deserved. But it is at a time when gender and race studies are defunded and erased by proclamation, all while more women in this country than ever are attending college, graduate school and earning post-doctoral degrees.

“Of the top 200 institutions in the THE World University Rankings 2026, 58 have a female vice-chancellor or president – 29 per cent of the total,” according to Times Higher Education. “This was up slightly from 27 per cent at the same point the year before, and the seventh consecutive annual increase. The proportion of female leaders has shot up from just 17 per cent in 2019, when there were 34.”

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Busy is just a four-letter word if it doesn’t carry a purpose for you.

During Women’s History Month when the world looks on women leaders, innovators, inventors, creatives and activists who have changed the world --or just a corner of it-- yesterday and today, it makes sense to examine the mission behind the busyness.

There is a different approach to the mythical work life balance syndrome women—and men—but it is mostly women—are mandated to achieve, which often centers on the 20 or more things on a daily to do list of tasks.

Because historically and globally, in so many arenas, women’s worth is attached to the completed boxes of those lifelong to-do lists.

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The ongoing history of all women needs recognition, respect and honor during Women’s History Month.

Indigenous Women in this country and around the world, are championing the major issues facing them including entrepreneurship, funding, business systemic inclusion, fairness, climate leadership and acknowledgment of the horror that is the ongoing crisis of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls.

“Listen to us, not as voices from the margins, but as equals,”  Indigenous leaders Nemonte Nenquimo, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim and Rukka Sombolinggi, said at the recent UN COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil.  

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With International Women’s Day celebrated on March 10, 115 years after its founding, it is the perfect time to acknowledge that the women at the very top of world leadership are living role models for how each one of us can make history daily.

And we can also acknowledge that women have been making history for longer than a century. And that you make history every day.

Learning and knowing how to make your efforts matter in the bigger picture is worth your time, particularly during Women’s History Month, when the country and the world salute women whose efforts have produced changes. Even if the end goal is not fully achieved. Yet.

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Suffice it to say very few people in this country do one 9 to 5 job. Most everyone has a side gig, a hustle, a dip into entrepreneurship, or just a practical way to fill the economic gaps with rising prices and stagnating salaries.

Women are doing more of this, (more in younger generations) out of desire or necessity or boredom, and generating less income. So you do you get more when you’re doing more?

Read more in Take The Lead on side gigs

New Citizens Bank research shows, “Two-thirds of adults under 34 have pursued an entrepreneurial venture, including nearly a quarter doing work outside their primary job,” according to Axios.

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Gratitude completely matters.

On the 12th anniversary of Take The Lead’s launch, we are extremely grateful to the global community supporting the mission of gender parity in leadership across all sectors through programs, events, trainings, coaching, mentorship and multiplatform resources.

To echo that gratitude, it is crucial to suggest the need for today’s leaders to express gratitude to colleagues, employees and clients in a challenging era when many feel anxious and overworked. The goal is to create and maintain a culture of intentional community with high expectations, fruitful outcomes and a sense of belonging, social connectedness,  value and purpose. Not with rote, brief recognition, but with true gratitude. The outcome is retention, profit, expansion, creativity and a sense of wellness at work.

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As Black History Month celebrates 100 years of saluting the excellence and inspiration of history-making contributions by Black leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs in this country, Take The Lead celebrates the leadership of 10 outstanding Black women making history today.

Some of these leaders you may already know and some may be new to you. All of these women contribute their noteworthy talents across the fields of sports, AI, music, media, philanthropy, communications, culinary excellence, retail and banking.

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