Recognizing International Women's Day and a Call for Active Participation to Enable Continued Progress for Women

This year's official International Women's Day theme – Press for Progress – reminds us that while as a company and a society we have made great advances, there's still much more we need to do. On International Women's Day we celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, and continue to advance global efforts to accelerate gender parity. While we are excited by the many celebrations of diversity and inclusion taking place in many countries, we also recognize the more active role we still have to play in enabling progress for women worldwide.

As we announced earlier this year, Citi was the first of our peers to publicly share our pay equity results. Since then, we have taken tangible steps as part of this year's compensation cycle to help close the gaps that we found. Late last year, we also demonstrated our commitment to pay equity by joining the Women in Finance Charter. Through this charter, Citi in EMEA has committed to a goal of increasing the number of women in senior management roles to 30% across the EMEA region by 2025. Through our regional Affinity Steering Committee, our 60 Citi Women's Network chapters and diversity councils around the world, we also have numerous other important efforts under way to help make Citi a more equitable place. We recognize that a balanced talent pool that fully reflects the demographics of our communities will enable us to be the best for our clients.

While these steps are important, it will take all of us to make significant and lasting change. In addition to inviting our colleagues to participate in the over 200 International Women's Day events that Citi has organized in 120 cities in 72 countries around the world, we've charged our colleagues to participate in the conversation and extend the dialogue beyond just this one day using the below questions to spark discussions.

• Has a sponsor or mentor – male or female – helped you advance your career? How have their actions and advice contributed to your professional progress?
• How can you take these efforts forward by reaching out to others to learn more about their goals, aspirations and development?
• What behaviors and actions will allow you to #PressforProgress every day?

Share your thoughts around these prompts with us on social media using the hashtag #StandForProgress. Advocacy is powerful, and this ongoing conversation is a chance for all of us to help drive progress across our firm and society.