By Bridget Marmion
As Women’s History Month 2026 ends, I’d like to comment on the subtle, almost subconscious effect it had on me. MUCH more than usual in March, if I wasn’t directly and deeply involved in a task, images of my mother, sisters, former bosses, authors I love, or the image of a cross and the phrase, “The women stayed,” floated across my mind.
I’m not always good at following instructions so I’m not surprised my focus hasn’t been on the leaders who struggled for equality in our country –Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman, and Alice Paul. These and many others can slide seamlessly into a list of women reflecting the 2026 Women’s History Month theme, “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future.”
Instead, the women I thought of and silently saluted were those who had an impact on my life. Here is where I strongly feel my subconscious and the official goals align:
“Action-Oriented: The initiative encourages honoring women who are developing, building, and leading a more resilient and inclusive future. This theme highlights women who are rebuilding systems for long-term environmental, economic, and social sustainability while driving equity.”
Every day, over hundreds of tasks, if not always in the cheeriest mood, my mom, Jo Marmion, showed my eight siblings and me by example how a woman can do anything, except maybe pick up the heaviest boxes. (Thank you, Mr. Whelan). And she showed each of us, boys and girls, how we can and should help.
In my book, that was a damn effective way to firmly plant into the minds of a whole family — and some neighbors — the concept of equity between the sexes.
As I got older, it was women like Betty Friedan, Susan Sontag, Gail Sheehy, Natalie Babbitt, Madeline L’Engle, Anna Quindlen, Jhumpa Lahiri, Alison Bechdel, Dale Kushner, and Dagnija Lacis who helped me to navigate life’s twists and turns and showed me how to truly enjoy life, sometimes via their books and sometimes via conversations we shared.
The faces I see when I think about work life are Pat McNees Mancini (my first boss), Leona Nevler, Katie Medina, Ann Godoff, Liz Darhansoff, Chris Casson Madden, Charlotte Abbott, Pat Strachan, Lynn Goldberg, Maire Gorman, Wendy Strothman, Carole Bidnick, Brenda Marsh, each of whom helped me sustain and grow my career in too many ways to count. There is not enough ink in the world to allow me to give a complete list of my mentors.
Would I be thinking of these women if it WEREN’T Women’s History Month? I certainly hope so, but on some level over the past weeks, I’ve felt a prompt to focus on them: how they impacted me and others, and to offer a silent thanks. Thank you, Women’s History Month, for offering this occasion to shout out their names. Perhaps those of you reading this have your own list of women you want to salute.
Bridget (far right) and her sisters