Jane Walker’s campaign will highlight and fund women-owned businesses through a partnership with IFundWomen
On 10 December, Human Rights Day, a day that observes the fundamental rights everyone is entitled to as a human being, Jane Walker– a symbol of the Johnnie Walker brand’s commitment to progress in gender equality – proudly introduces it’s First Women’ campaign to celebrate these boundary-breaking moments and to inspire and enable others on the road to a monumental first.
The campaign has launched with an Open Letter in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post penned and signed by a network of remarkable women who have blazed trails in culture.
The letter acknowledges ambitions for women in 2021 and beyond and reflects our support of constitutional equality in collaboration with the ERA Coalition and its Fund for Women’s Equality.
It aims to empower women to draw strength from the unflinchingly fearless leaders who came before them and to relentlessly persevere towards progress, noting, “They didn’t just open the door, they ripped the door off its hinges so it couldn’t be closed again.” The Jane Walker network of ‘First Women’ includes Billie Jean King, Elaine Welteroth, Elizabeth Banks, Halle Berry, Katie Couric, Katie Sowers, Lilly Singh, Lucy Liu, Rita Moreno, and Salt-N-Pepa.
As part of the First Women campaign, Jane Walker has partnered with women-owned business funding marketplace IFundWomen to help create more opportunities for women to achieve their goals. The partnership will provide grant funding to businesses identified in collaboration with the network of powerful women icons, supporting those on their journey towards a monumental first.
“Marking and championing moments of progress for women is such an important part of pushing forward towards gender equality,” commented Sophie Kelly, Senior Vice President of Whiskies at Diageo North America.
“This year, we celebrated the anniversary of women’s right to vote and honoured those who fought for us to have a voice, so it’s critical that we continue to stand with and support women. We hope our First Women programme can be a spark that helps inspire more firsts, seconds, and thirds for women ahead.”
Since launching in 2018, the Jane Walker platform has supported the work of Monumental Women to bring the first statue of real female figures to NYC’s Central Park, celebrated women’s marches around the country with a “Signs of Progress” exhibit, supported Equal Pay during the Women’s World Cup, and launched a business coalition in support of the Equal Rights Amendment with the ERA Coalition.
The brand will be re-releasing its Jane Walker by Johnnie Walker whisky – a blend created by Master Blender Emma Walker for everyone of legal drinking age to enjoy responsibly – in the coming year.
