For International Women’s Day 2026, I designed and facilitated a workshop for Colorado Women&TECH at CodeTalent in RiNo, built around the IWD theme of Give to Gain: giving on your own terms - your story, your hard-won lessons, your wins - to a community that gives back.
Rather than a talk, this was a facilitated whole-group story share. I introduced one prompt at a time, everyone took a minute to write, then a few people shared before we moved to the next. Writing first levels the playing field - everyone processes before anyone performs.
A few of the prompts:
- Share a moment when someone gave you something - a connection, advice, an opportunity - that changed your path.
- What’s a challenge you’ve navigated that you wish someone had told you about first?
- What do you have to give that you haven’t been asked for yet?
- What’s a win - big or small - from the past year you haven’t celebrated enough?
We closed with a Give Wall: everyone posted two stickies, “I have to give:” and “I’m looking for:”, and the wall stayed up through the networking hour as a conversation starter.