By 
Elizabeth Nieto
6 min read
Equity & Impact

With Love, on International Women’s Day

By 
Elizabeth Nieto
6 min read
Equity & Impact

Women have been fierce in communities around the world, working through many intersections for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Argentina, became a professional adult in the United States and have worked globally for more than three decades. The variety of experiences this has given me has presented opportunities to understand the essence of being a woman in different cultures. It’s clear that even in places where women are CEOs and Board Members of businesses and corporations, where they hold the most senior public office roles, strive as presidents of universities, or are recognized for their academic achievements; in many other places women are still fighting for safety and freedom to be heard.

At Spotify, we celebrate cultural moments by building campaigns that align with our values. For this year’s International Women’s Day our campaign called, ‘With Love,’ aims to amplify and spotlight the stories of women of all experiences.  Artists, activists, and creators from around the world share reflections of their life and words of solidarity to the community. It includes  24 recordings of women sharing a love letter to their past self or to someone who changed their life and podcast playlists focusing on three special communities: changemakers, musicians, and storytellers. Through Spotify, this diverse group of women have the opportunity to engage with new audiences sharing their vision and voices with our listeners worldwide. 

With Love, A Changemaker 

Within the ‘With Love, A Changemaker’ playlist, we are proud to feature content creators, educators, and community-oriented leaders having impact on their communities around the world: 

  • Dominique Morgan, Executive Director of The Okra Project (US); 
  • Lauren Wasser, Toxic Shock Syndrome Activist (US); 
  • Priti Patkar, Indian Social Worker and Human Rights Activist (India);  
  • Tourmaline, Trans Activist, Prison Abolitionist, and Disability Justice Advocate (US); 
  • Tia Wood, Indigenous Content Creator (Canada); 
  • Hayley McQuire, Founder of National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition (Australia); 
  • Tanya Selvaratnam, Feminist Activist and Producer (US); 
  • Emi Mahmoud, Poet and Activist (Sudan).

With Love, A Musician

We’re really excited by the musicians featured on our ‘With Love, An Artist’ playlist. I appreciate that some of them already have millions of listeners and some others a few hundred thousands. By being part of this playlist there will be  new opportunities to be discovered,  or rediscovered, such as:

With Love, A Storyteller

From our mothers night time stories to women writers and journalists, being a storyteller has been crucial to the development of our all cultures, and our ‘With Love, A Storyteller’ playlist features a group which represents those voices: 

Equal

This is not all we’re doing this month; as part of our ‘Equal’ program, three artists (US artist Ethel Cain, South Korean artist Sunmi and Mexican artist Bruses) will release new songs exclusive to Spotify to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD). Ethel Cain & Sunmi’s songs were created entirely by women and aim to promote Spotify’s ongoing EQUAL initiatives, in particular our ‘Created By Women’ playlist, and IWD in general.

In 2021, Spotify launched the EQUAL Collective to bring together a group of non-profit organizations from around the world each working to further gender equity in music. This year, 2 teams (each comprising 4 organizations) from this collective will receive a grant of $50,000 by suggesting how to build a program with impact in 2022. One of the teams, (including a partnership of Femme Africa and P_ssy Party) is helping solve for respresentation of women creators in Africa by creating a curriculum and online directory to connect creators within the industry. The other team (including MEWEM from France and MIM from Spain) developed the MEWEM Golden Ticket, a concept that will award 8 women entrepreneurs from across Europe free access to international professional festivals to pitch their own projects, new ideas, develop their businesses and meet future partners with a high-level network.

First of Many

For our band members, our Employee Resource Group (ERG) Women@ have developed a strong program themed on ‘First of Many.’ The program champions the multi-disciplined, multi-women that wear many hats in their identity, responsibilities, extracurriculars and lifestyles in general. Many of these women have been trailblazers in their communities, leading the way as the first, of many, to come. 

Nine Muses Festival

And what are we  offering in Stockholm with virtual access from around the world? Nine Muses Festival! Founded in 2019 by Spotify, together with other leading companies, Nine Muses Festival is an annual one-day event celebrating women in the creative industries. It’s an event that creates a space for inspirational exchange, knowledge sharing and professional development within the creative industries. This year’s event included Spotify’s own Mia Nygren, MD for LATAM, and speakers from the world of music, broadcasting, advertising, architecture, fashion, and academia. More than 170 participants attended the live event and 300 joined us virtually to engage in deep conversations about creating their own path, as an artist, a creator, and an entrepreneur, or a woman in tech. 

As March 8th, International Women’s Day, draws to an end, women around the world know we are not done – our work continues throughout the rest of the year. We continue to focus on celebrating and elevating the voices of women of all experiences and building a pipeline of future talent that will help lead the path.

Elizabeth Nieto

Explore Similar Posts

Hi! I’m Elizabeth, Head of Equity and Impact, at Spotify

Life @ Spotify HR: Six Months In

Impacting Societies and the Planet Through Global Citizenship