Event Description

Steadfast and strong. Durability and strength. For the Women in Green community, these words are deeply resonant and capture how women have adapted and endured in an unthinkable year. So, it’s fitting to know these words are also used to mark our 10th anniversary.

This year, Women in Green celebrates a decade-long journey of shifting the narrative and empowering women leaders in green building and sustainability. Together, we have created a global leadership platform focused on empowerment, access and impact. Women in Green has become a place where we foster leadership, support those charting a new path and elevate the voices that need to be heard.

It’s been 10 years of progress and 10 years of contributing to USGBC’s larger mission of creating a healthier, more sustainable future for all. But this past year tested women like never before. USGBC’s own survey on women in the workforce revealed 62% of respondents agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic is negatively impacting workplace equity. The United Nations also cautioned that COVID-19 could undo decades of meaningful progress around gender equality.

The reality is we’re already seeing the effects. In the U.S., women’s workforce participation is at a 33-year low and we know women of color feel these impacts more acutely. Serious economic, health, social and environmental challenges await us as we look to the road ahead. They are challenges that make Women in Green more important than ever. Challenges that also reinforce USGBC’s larger strategy of healthy people in healthy places is the fastest way to rebuild a healthy economy.

Rebuilding that economy will require different perspectives, new ideas and the courage to challenge what we think we know.

So, as we embark on the next 10 years of Women in Green, we must commit to facing down these challenges. We are steadfast and strong. Through our experiences, through our collective knowledge and through our diverse perspectives we can be part of shaping a future that is healthy, that is sustainable, that is resilient and one that is more equitable.