Womanhood Journal fifth celebration edition sharing stories on International Women’s Day
The 2025 Womanhood Journal shares a collection of female business stories from across the Kāpiti & Horowhenua region and will be released in celebration of International Women’s Day on 8 March.
In its fifth celebratory edition, the Journal features diverse stories of over 26 local business women from across the Horowhenua and Kāpiti region, with all proceeds from the project donated to the Kāpiti Women’s Centre and Horowhenua Women’s Refuge.
Connector and project lead, Anna Colville-Smith from ACS Marketing Consultancy says this fifth edition has been really rewarding to pull together.
“This celebratory edition showcases all the brave women who have shared their stories since the project commenced. The introduction to the magazine includes a beautiful year book montage with all of the women who have ever featured in the Womanhood Journal as a reflection and thank you. It has certainly reminded the team of the power of storytelling and how many women have been touched by the project.”
Since the project was initiated in 2021 it has featured over 120 women in the journal. This year it has raised over $3,500 for Kapiti Women's Centre and Horowhenua Women's Refuge and over $15,500 has been donated to these organisations since the project commenced.
“We will distribute 500 journals across the region, last year thousands read the stories online. Every year I’m impressed with the vulnerability of the women who share so authentically about their personal journeys in business and life. When going through the editing process I can’t help but be inspired and proud to be able to pull together this passion project.”
Ms Colville-Smith says that the interest in the project has grown since it commenced in 2021 with women feeling empowered by supporting local women’s charities and reflecting on their personal and professional journeys.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2025 is ‘Accelerate Action’ and the journal is about a diverse range of women in business who have all taken action to support this project. Coming from a diverse range of sectors including construction, real estate, food and beverage, wellness and the arts, with all stories shared authentically.
This year the cover was co-designed with Paraparaumu College Student Alyssa Bryant who shares her excitement in the opportunity to design a cover for a magazine.
“I wanted to create something that was crafty and homemade looking like the cover of a yearbook. I wanted to incorporate elements from covers of the past issues, bold colours with black and white imagery.”
“During the creative process I found I really liked the look of a collage with layering and it was fun to add doodles and lines to add playfulness and colour to the final design” shares Bryant.
The Journal was designed by Lemonface Creative and edited by Deacon Rd. The pages in the magazine feature bold flowing lines that provide a sense of movement which resemble speed and action to represent this year’s International Women’s Day theme #accelerateaction.
500 copies of the Womanhood Journal will be printed and distributed across the community and a digital version is available for reading from womanhoodjournal.nz.
To get involved in 2026 and to share your own female-focused project visit womanhoodjournal.nz
For more information contact:
Anna Colville-Smith
[email protected]
PH 027 594 3784
