Last year, in honour of International Women’s Day we shared a remarkable book, The Daughters of Melbourne, about our amazing yet, all too often, unsung sisters.

One of the most inspiring stories to us was that of Vida Goldstein.

A devout suffragist, Vida was the driving force behind women gaining the right to vote. She was the first woman to run for Australian parliament. She also formed and led the Women’s Peace Army.

Vida was a Melbourne-born advocate of women’s and children’s rights, campaigner for equality, uncompromising pacifist, and fearless reformer. Standing on her soapbox by the Yarra River she called for change, everything from ways to bring peace to women suffering domestic violence, to mothers being able to save their young boys from war. In our minds she was, and remains to this day, our state’s greatest revolutionary.

In fact, we were so inspired by Vida that when Town Square moved offices to the Melbourne CBD, we named our boardroom after her.

As a business founded and run by women we believe that supporting our sisters is something we should focus on year-round. Therefore, we are going to be doing a different initiative each quarter that strives to improve the lives of women.

This quarter, we have chosen to support the local Melbourne not for profit, Fitted for Work. This very worthy cause helps women in Australia to become work-ready, gain secure employment, and build careers.

To all our respected business sisters, we are thrilled to be able to share this, and future initiatives with you. To mark an occasion that Vida herself would have proudly supported.

Happy International Women’s Day!