I have never known a time in my career without Take Our Daughters to Work Day.

Launched in 1993, the same year I graduated law school and began work at Skadden Arps, Take Our Daughters to Work Day burst on the scene as the brainchild of a formidable team made up of Gloria Steinem, Nell Merlino, Kristen Golden and The Ms. Foundation.

The goal?

To usher girls into the workplace to glimpse potential careers as early as possible.

I remember watching the next generation flood Skadden's cafeteria, scale library shelves and page their parents repeatedly over loudspeakers amid peals of laughter.

I remember thinking that when I had a daughter I would let her lug a briefcase, spin in boardroom chairs and eat as much cotton candy as she liked (yep, there was a machine) when I joyfully brought her to work.

And I remember introducing my daughter to all three of these founders years later in my living room when I hosted a conversation with girls from Être - a company whose sole mission is to take girls into companies to meet female leaders face to face.

This is a full circle moment, I thought to myself as I watched three generations talk animatedly about boardrooms visited and confidence in the workplace. We're just taking other people's daughters to work.

“Because that is the heart of what Être does: As our French name suggests, we show girls early and in person everything it is possible “to be.”

How do we do it?

We simply ask girls which companies they'd love to visit, and then we reach out to leaders who work there. And without exception, women at these orgs have said come on in - we can't wait. And...we wish we'd had this when we were that age.

Where have girls asked to go?

Think...

Spotify to dance on stages, peek into recording studios and hear about the music industry from execs;
Google and YouTube to meet engineers, eat in the coolest-ever cafeterias and ask about cutting edge tech;
Viacom (now Paramount) and NBCUniversal to stand on the sets of favorite shows, crowd into production booths and learn about non-media roles also needed in entertainment brands;
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Worth Media Group and UBS to raise voices and ask every money-based question on their minds;
NYSE and Nasdaq to step onto iconic podiums and raise hands to ring bells;
TikTok to see firsthand how platforms they use every day run, meet challenges and grow with feedback from new generations;
United Nations to sit in security council chambers and lean into microphones used by world leaders to voice their own concerns about the world;
Johnson & Johnson and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates to pave new paths toward pre-med and pre-law careers; and
Bubble to lose their minds over brands going viral and give input about products to come.

We've stormed every one of these boardrooms at girls' requests along with many more.

Who else have girls sat down with face to face to ask career Qs?

Legends like Tyra Banks to talk about body confidence, NASA astronauts to gain STEM major advice and the late Lilly Ledbetter to discuss equal pay across the board, among others.

Where are we going next?

We'll be at Pinterest this Wednesday and back at Google on May 8th - because they're throwing our 9th birthday party in brand new NYC offices.

And we can't wait to celebrate.

Because every day is Take Our Daughters to Work Day at Être.

And while the day evolved into Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day in 2003, our focus on building girls' confidence by showcasing careers and introducing mentor moments remains top of mind. Reinforced by our national research commissioned with YPulse, Être's conviction that mentors matter early for girls is stronger than ever.

As described by the National Women's History Museum, "Take Our Daughters to Work Day was created to help show girls that being smart was something to be proud of, not something to hide, and that their ideas could be heard and had value. By providing girls with real-life adult role models in various professions, the program sought to show girls that gender was not a prohibitive factor to their desired profession."

Thirty-two years and 3 days later, Être is proud to be marching girls directly into companies to meet role models face to face and see futures that blow their minds.

One day at a time...day after day.

With deep gratitude to the original founders of Take Our Daughters to Work Day and more thanks to every leader throwing open the door at her company saying come on in, let's work together to ensure that we see more women in the boardroom - by saving seats for girls.

Looking forward,

Illana