Join feminist organizations from across Greater Boston for a morning of inspiration, connection, and action at the 28th Annual International Women’s Day Breakfast. The theme for this year is Reigniting our Movements for Gender Equity. The breakfast includes a resource fair with 20+ community organizations, light bites and coffee, a keynote, and a panel.
The panel brings together movement leaders to explore how we take action across organizations, center the communities who need us most, and sustain ourselves in the work.
As women and gender-expansive people continue to bear the brunt of both the attacks and the care labor that follows, we’ll focus on collective strategies for revitalization, community care, and recommitting to the fight for gender equality. Come to reconnect with purpose, power, and one another.
The breakfast is SOLD OUT!
International Women’s Day Breakfast Agenda
8:30AM - 9:45AM Community Tabling + Breakfast
Common Ground Cafe and the Fens, Simmons Main Campus Building
10AM Welcome Remarks
Sasha Goodfriend & Ayanna Polk, IWD Co-Chairs
Meghan V. Doran, Simmons University
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu
10:30AM - 12PM Panel - Moderated by Karen Holmes Ward
Aba Taylor - YW Boston
Aditi Dholakia – Boston Women’s Fund
Dallas Ducar – Fenway Health
State Representative Sam Montaño
Esteemed Panelists
Aba Taylor
Aba Taylor is the President & CEO of YW Boston with over 25 years of experience as a facilitator, organizer, consultant, nonprofit executive and board member working to uplift BlPOC communities, women and girls, immigrants, LGBTQIA communities, and cultural changemakers on local, regional, national and international scales. She has held key positions at organizations including the United Nations, the Astraea Foundation for Justice, the Massachusetts Human Rights Commission, the Network for Social Justice, and Interaction Institute for Social Change. Taylor is a graduate of Columbia University and the School of International Training and is passionate about individual and social transformation.
Aditi Dholakia
Aditi Dholakia (they/them) was born and raised in North Carolina, and moved to Boston in August, 2020 to complete their Masters in Public Administration at Northeastern University. During their time in Boston, they have built a career at the intersection of nonprofits and philanthropy, focusing on supporting grassroots organizations and movements for social change. Aditi’s approach to this work emphasizes building values-aligned connections and deep relationships to strengthen communities and leverage networks to advance social change.
They bring experience and expertise in inclusive facilitation, nonprofit management, resource allocation, participatory philanthropy, and developing capacity-building programs and opportunities for grassroots leaders and their organizations. They are also growing their knowledge and practice of movement organizing, guided by teachings from Ayni Institute, Center for Economic Democracy, and other movement funders and community leaders.
Prior to joining the team at BWF, Aditi worked at The Lenny Zakim Fund as Deputy Director, and at the Social Innovation Forum as the inaugural Funder Education Program Manager. In addition to their role at BWF, Aditi also serves on the Board of Trustees at Esperanza Academy in Lawrence, MA, on the Board of Directors at the Boston Alliance for LGBTQ+ Youth (BAGLY), and on the Wisdom Council for the Finding Our Way Home Grant Program at Episcopal City Mission.
Aditi is a certified yoga teacher and attuned Reiki Master, and believes deeply in healing justice as a key component to successful and sustained movement organizing. They teach yoga weekly in Roslindale, and work to incorporate reiki, energy healing, and the teachings of yoga into all aspects of their life, including in their work.
Aditi speaks four languages fluently (English, Gujarati, German, Hindi), and has a goal to learn Spanish as well. In their spare time, Aditi loves to be with friends and family, cook delicious meals, bake sourdough bread, and spend time outside (gardening, biking, walking, hiking, and just soaking up sunlight).
Dallas M. Ducar MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC, CNL, FAAN
Dallas Ducar is an entrepreneur, advocate, and healthcare leader. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Donor Engagement and External Relations at Fenway Health. Prior to this, Dallas was the founding President and CEO of Transhealth. She holds multiple degrees from the University of Virginia and a certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.
As a faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Nursing, Columbia University, and the MGH Institute for Health Professions, Dallas brings a wealth of expertise to her role in shaping the future of healthcare. As a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and Expert Panelist for the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics, Dallas actively shapes health policy related to equity, ethics, and affirming care.
Dallas extends her impact by serving as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), Co-Chair of the LGBTQ+ Health Care Alliance, Healing Our Community Collaborative (HOCC), the University of Virginia Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA) Fund, and the Health Advisory Council for Western Governors University. Embracing her role as a public servant, Dallas has proudly served on Boards of Health and on the Official Transition Team for Attorney General Andrea Campbell.
Dallas has helped advise local, regional, and national elected leaders in best practices and policies for health care organizational design and sustainability, including advocating for protections for providers and patients.
Dallas finds meaning and passion in her life by spending time hiking with her dogs, exploring the outdoors, and spending time with her loving family and friends. She is actively working to create affirming healthcare by fostering freedom, empowering patients, creating more ethical systems, and restoring a community focus back to clinical care.
State Representative Sam Montaño
Sam Montaño is originally from Los Angeles, CA and after graduation from college, made their way to Boston, MA where they have lived for the last 13 years. Through organizing in their community and getting involved in, and eventually chairing, the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council, Sam decided to run for State Representative in Massachusetts. In September 2022, Sam won a State Representative seat in Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood of Boston and is currently in their second term. With professional experience ranging from affordable housing development to environmental justice they are deeply committed to the power of community and equity. In their free time Sam likes biking, exploring different parts of the city, and crossword puzzles.
What is International Women’s Day?
International Women's Day (IWD) is designated in many countries as a national holiday and commemorated at the United Nations as well as by many women's groups around the world. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries, and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least ten decades of struggle for equality, justice, and development.
IWD is the story of ordinary women as makers of history. It is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men.
The idea of an IWD first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth, and radical ideologies.
The History of Bread and Roses
In 1912, the labor protest later known as the "Bread and Roses" strike began in Lawrence, Massachusetts. A new state law had reduced the' maximum workweek from 56 to 54 hours. Factory owners responded by speeding up production and cutting workers' pay. Women of all ethnic groups banded together in solidarity, shut down their looms, left the mill and took to the streets in protest. One group of women carried a banner proclaiming, "We want bread and roses too."
The slogan appeals for both fair wages and dignified conditions and highlighted the respect due to them as women, rather than just as cheap labor. The slogan caught on and provided the name for one of the most important events in American labor history.
Thank you to our sponsors
Thank you to the planning committee!
Anita Yip, Anny Chan, Ayanna Polk, Brianna Savage, Carmen Blyden, Chiquita Rice, Eleonora Cordovani, Ellen Krause-Grosman, Emily Shield, Fátima Lacerda, Gary Yu, Hali Smith, Hope Ricciotti, Ivanna Solano, Kat Cline, Kelsey Hogan, Kiran Pervez, Kolieka Seigle, Kristine Acevedo, Makda Teklemichael, Marvina Wilkes, Marydith Tuitt, Maureen Hansen, May Vaughn, Meghan Doran, Mel EB, Mengxi Gao, Michelle Juralewicz, Monique Clarke, Naitasia Hensey, Nasiba Mannan, Quiana Agbai, Rebecca Azenga, Seble Alemu, Shaitia Spruell, Shameka Gregory, Shammah Daniels, Shanequa Christmas, Shannon Montanez, Sasha Goodfriend, Sharon Stout, Sophie Antoine, Stacy Wilbur, Tanika Smith, Teagan Jeram, Tonya Morris
Thank you to our partner organizations!
APAPA - BOSTON | Better Business Bureau| Bonobo Sisterhood Alliance | Boston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority |BreakFIT Wellness LLC | Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women | Chica Project | Eastern Regional Commission on the Status of Women | EHR Boston Communities | Eleonora Francesca Cordovani - Yoga & Theater | Girls on the Run Greater Boston | Girls' LEAP | Greater Boston Section National Council of Negro Women | Koha Girls, Inc. | Love Balungi | Love Your Magic | March of Dimes | Massachusettes Women of Color Coalition | Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers | Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators | Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women | Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition | Massachusetts Women's History Center | Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus | Mayor's Office of LGBTIQA2S+ Advancement | Monarch Investment Advisors | More Than Words | Mystic Valley Action for Reproductive Justice | Our Bodies Ourselves | Periodic | Plymouth County Commission on the Status of Women | Red Dress Events LLC | Rise Up Life Coaching & Consulting | Simmons University | Together Hyde Park | Transition House, Inc. | UCA - MA | USPRO | We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project | Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts | Women's Energy Network: Boston Chapter | Women's Fund SouthCoast | YW Boston
Resource Fair Organizations:
APAPA-Boston
Better Business Bureau
Boston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc
Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy at UMass Boston
EHR Boston Communities
Eleonora Francesca Cordovani - Yoga & Theater
Greater Boston Section National Council of Negro Women
Koha Girls, Inc.
MA Commission on the Status of Women
MA Women’s History Center
Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence
Mass NOW
Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition
Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus
Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA2S+ Advancement
Mystic Valley Action for Reproductive Justice
Our Bodies Ourselves
UCA - MA
Women’s Energy Network
YW Boston
Frequently Asked Questions
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The International Women’s Day Breakfast is located at Simmons University, 300 The Fenway in Boston, MA in the Main College Building.
Driving and public transportation directions can be found here.
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There will be limited discounted parking tickets available, please ask for a discounted parking ticket when you sign in at the registration table.
The discounted parking applies to the Simmons University Garage, address: One Palace Road, Boston, MA 02115.
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Yes! A hot breakfast will be provided, including danishes, bacon, potatoes, eggs, sausage, coffee and tea.
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8:30AM - 9:45AM Community Tabling + Breakfast
Common Ground Cafe and the Fens, Simmons Main Campus Building
10AM Welcome Remarks
Sasha Goodfriend & Ayanna Polk, IWD Co-Chairs
10:30AM - 12PM Panel - Moderated by Karen Holmes Ward
Aba Taylor - YW Boston
Aditi Dholakia – Boston Women’s Fund
Dallas Ducar – Fenway Health
State Representative Sam Montaño -
The color for IWD is PURPLE! Most people will be wearing business casual clothes, wear whatever makes you the most comfortable.
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You’ll receive more information from us via email! Please email massnow@massnow.org if you have any questions.