Every year on March 8th, the world comes together to celebrate International Women’s Day — a day dedicated to recognizing the achievements of women, raising awareness about gender equality, and advocating for women’s rights worldwide. As a women’s shelter focused on creating social change through education, advocacy, and support, International Women’s Day holds profound significance for us. It’s a day when we reaffirm our commitment to standing in solidarity with women, advocating for their rights, and fostering a community where every woman feels safe, valued, and empowered to thrive.

This year, on March 14th, we marked International Women’s Day with a special in-person event celebrating inspirational women. It was incredible to see our community of supporters and staff come together for the evening, which was also a part of our year of celebrations in honour of Nellie’s 50th anniversary. (Click through the photos below to see the full-size images!)

Our keynote speaker was Samra Zafar, an award-winning internationally renowned speaker, bestselling author and educator for equity, mental health, and human rights. Her book, A Good Wife: Escaping The Life I Never Chose, is based on her journey of escaping an abusive child marriage to pursue her education. Samra’s talk was inspiring — she focused on the importance of resilience, incorporating her story as a child bride, eventually going to university, and now about to graduate medical school. She also spoke about how to not get in your own way, and how to cut ties with people who are not good for you.

Our attendees were also treated to an electrifying performance from award- winning singer/ songwriter Domanique Grant. Her uplifting and empowering songs had the entire audience up on their feet, dancing and singing along with her. This “artist to watch” (as Spotify named her) is an extremely talented performer, and we loved having her feel-good self-love anthems as part of our special evening.

Thank you to all who attended our very special International Women’s Day event, and a very special thank you to Samra and Domanique for sharing their stories and music with us. We hope to see you all at our next celebration!